Posts Tagged ‘Michael J. Fox Foundation’
12:25pm – 22:45 December 9; 21:08 December 11; 08:58-13:33 December 12, 2024 Aix-les-Bains, FRANCE
Dear Reader,
Bonjour!
I wish you and everyone around you … peace, happiness, and Nature’s Beauty.
I am forever grateful to the people in my life who help me grow.
I am forever grateful to healers, medical, health professionals, caregivers, patients, researchers, authors, editors, publishers et al who make current information available in many languages.
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YouTube link to the interview with
Dr. Norman Doidge, M.D. about the BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BRAIN and HEALING
Chronic Pain; Parkinson’s and other Movement Disorders; Strokes; Autism; many more conditions
posted in 2015 by CANADA BROADCAST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c5aTlq3nYI&list=PLcU9gOvQNUr8XPza1RhGAjp06-f3E4QAL
Dr. Norman Doidge, M.D. | The Power of Thought
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You know friends who have had . . . Strokes? Chronic pain? Someone you care about suffering from symptoms of MS? Cerebral Palsy? Muscular Dystrophy? Alzheimer’s? Parkinson’s? Head injury? Balance problems? Vision problems? Depression?
Our amazing brains!
Reviewing the chapter titles and the index sparks hope and motivation to ask physicians the right questions.
https://normandoidge.com/
the book –
The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity
by Norman Doidge, M.D.
Available, so far, in 22 languages:
The Brain’s Way of Healing is now available in over 100 countries, and 22 languages including translations from English into Bulgarian, Chinese Traditional Characters, Chinese Simplified Characters, Czech, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese-Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
French edition book title:
GUERIR GRACE A LA NEUROPLASTICITE: Cerveau les fabuleux pouvoirs de guérison
English translation of French edition: HEALING WITH NEUROPLASTICITY: Brain The Fabulous Healing Powers
Chapter 1 Physician Hurt, Then Heal Thyself
Michael Moskowitz Discovers That Chronic Pain Can Be Unlearned
Chapter 2 A Man Walks Off His Parkinsonian Symptoms
How Exercise Helps Fend Off Degenerative Disorders and Can Defer Dementia
Chapter 3 The Stages of Neuroplastic Healing
How and Why It Works
Chapter 4 Rewiring a Brain with Light
Using Light to Reawaken Dormant Neural Circuits
Chapter 5 Moshe Feldenkrais: Physicist, Black Belt, and Healer
Healing Serious Brain Problems Through Mental Awareness of Movement
Chapter 6 A Blind Man Learns to See
Using Feldenkrais, Buddhist, and Other Neuroplastic Methods
Chapter 7 A Device That Resets the Brain
Stimulating Neuromodulation to Reverse Symptoms
I. A Cane Against the Wall
II. Three Resets: Parkinson’s, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis
III. The Cracked Potters
IV. How the Brain Balances Itself—with a Little Help
Chapter 8 A Bridge of Sound
The Special Connection Between Music and the Brain
I. A Dyslexic Boy Reverses His Misfortune
II. A Mother’s Voice
III. Rebuilding the Brain from the Bottom Up: Autism, Attention Deficits, and Sensory Processing Disorder
IV. Solving the Mystery at the Abbey: How Music Raises Our Spirits and Energy
Dr. Doidge’s books make for fascinating reads – our brains and the phenomenon of neuroplasticity - thank you to all the patients who did not give up, their loved ones, their physicians who did not give up, and the dedicated neuroscientists . . . for providing the stories.
Even if your physicians and healers have not read this book . . . YOU can arm yourselves with the information and ask them to make referrals. And, you can also ask friends to share their resources.
I cheer for you, friends & colleagues! To those who write books, I cheer for your books too! The subject matters in your books and Dr. Doidge’s books carry plenty of connections.
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Conversations with our own Brains about what we want for our Bodies.
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My father suffered from Parkinsonian Disorder. The disease impacted the safety of his walking.
I felt a great sense of accomplishment (after reading Norman Doidge, M.D.’s book The Brain’s Way of Healing
… especially Chapter 2 “A Man Walks Off His Parkinsonian Symptoms”
and learning how to ask Papa’s neurologist the right questions)…
Questions that led Dr. White to order “specific” physical therapy for Papa – therapy NOT for injuries like a broken leg from a skiing accident but therapy for movement disorders - to help Papa reverse the Parkinson’s “shuffling” gait and “freezing” gait as well as improve posture. Thank you, Dr. White!
The Brain is smart. When one set of instructions “doesn’t connect” another set of instructions will. At one appointment with neurologist Dr. Luthra when she said to my father: “Let me see you walk.”
I offered information: “Dr. Luthra, when Papa is at a doorway to enter or leave a room, and, at elevators (lifts) … his legs lock … he can’t move. That’s dangerous when the elevator door closes and he cannot move. Or when his walker gets caught by a rug that is not properly secured to the floor.”
Dr. Luthra stepped out of her small office and stood in the hallway, facing Papa. She smiled, gestured for Papa to walk out of the room. At the threshold, his legs wouldn’t cooperate. He lurched forward with his walker, but his legs couldn’t move.
Dr. Luthra: “Mr. Leung, keep one hand on your walker, raise your other arm.” She demonstrated. She raised her right arm straight up. She added: “Raising your arm tells your Brain that you want to move.”
Papa kept his left hand on his walker, he raised his right arm, then lowered it back to the walker
I watched with astonishment as he and his walker walked out the room with ease.
Later, Movement Disorder Physical Therapist Brenda taught Papa more tricks to help his Brain and his Body talk to each other, learn from each other.
If I hadn’t learned what I had learned from Dr. Norman Doidge, M.D.’s books and asked my father’s physicians the right questions, perhaps my father wouldn’t have received the level of attention from people who had the power to prescribe and deliver specific therapies, specific treatments… appropriate to Papa’s needs.
One day I was thinking out loud to my dear friend Sue R. I said: “I wish there was a Chinese edition of Dr. Doidge’s book. Papa would benefit so much if he could read Chapter 2 himself.” Sue told me that Wen Hsu worked with publishers in Taiwan.
Fast forward…. Wen contacted the publisher in Taiwan who was translating THE BRAIN’S WAY OF HEALING into Chinese. Wen wrote to the editor, explained to her/him about my father’s situation; the editor emailed Wen the “advance copy” of Chapter 2. One of the happiest moments in my life was presenting Papa those pages – Chinese transalation of “A Man Walks Off His Parkinsonian Symptoms – How Exercise Helps Fend Off Degenerative Disorders and Can Defer Dementia”
Then, when the Chinese edition came out in print, Wen helped me order many copies of the book from the publisher in Taiwan.
Papa and his friends read this wonderful book in their native language. I am forever grateful.
https://normandoidge.com/
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Has it really been more than nine years ago when I published my October 21st, 2015 blog post
Through http://www.duskyswondersite.com Dusky Pierce, I had found a remarkable book that has enriched my life, my papa’s, my friends’, Papa’s friends.
Please ask your librarians and booksellers to make this book available.
The book is The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity
by Norman Doidge, M.D.
Dr. Doidge’s first book: The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
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Here is the YouTube link to Dr. Norman Doidge’s lecture in Melbourne, Australia
posted April 23, 2013 An astonishing new scientific discovery called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the adult human brain is fixed and unchanging. The Brain is, instead, able to change its own structure and function, even into old age.
Melbourne Conversations: Your Brain – How it can change, develop and improve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibpbkV7xc24&list=PLcU9gOvQNUr8XPza1RhGAjp06-f3E4QAL&index=2
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A thousand thanks to Michael J. Fox Foundation
https://www.michaeljfox.org/
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https://movementdisorders.ucsf.edu/
The UCSF Movement Disorders and Neuromodulation Center is a well-established, internationally recognized program. It is also one of the busiest deep brain stimulation implanting centers on the West Coast with a wide referral base.
The mission of the center is to provide state-of-the-art comprehensive multidisciplinary care to patients with movement disorders. They offer a variety of services that include comprehensive neurological evaluations, medication treatment and disease management, botulinum toxin injections, neurosurgical procedures including deep brain stimulation, and deep brain stimulation programming.
The medical staff includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, neuropsychologists, radiologists, and nurses who have specialized training in movement disorders and the problems associated with these conditions whose goal is to provide individualized comprehensive care.
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Thank you for reading my blog post:
The Extraordinary and Beautiful Ever-changing Brain, Healing Body to Improve Daily Life, Neuroplasticity
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For other posts related to “Neuroplasticity” … please look at the right side of my blog… under “Categories” please click on “Beautiful Brain Neuroplasticity”
I wish you and everyone around you – vibrant health, peace and happiness.
Sincerely,
Teresa Jade LeYung
Author / Blogger / Story-Theme Consultant / Photo Historian
https://m.youtube.com/@teresajadeleyung/videos for
short short movies of Paris, FRANCE; Portland, Oregon USA; Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA 2024
https://LoveMadeOfHeart.com/blog/ goes to Teresa Jade LeYung’s Blog on Wellness, Story Themes, Archetypes
Love Made Of Heart ®
2023 January 9, 20:40 California – Teresa Jade LeYung’s blog post #619
Dear Reader,
Today I responded to a post from a fellow-member of Women’s Brain Exchange network. Her subject line was: “Recommendations for Parkinson’s”
I wish to share my response through this blog post.
I cheer for all brave folks who are coping with disease and illness and all the compassionate advocates!
I was an advocate for my father – he thrived in spite of Parkinson’s.
Information is powerful! What I had learned as an advocate enriched my own life and also everyone else’s in Papa’s community.
Be ahead of the game – know that Parkinson’s is a movement disorder… thus, find (not just a general neurologist) but a neurologist whose patient base is mainly movement disorder patients and who does not rely on “old” techniques.
Same for physical therapists – folks who aren’t trained in movement disorders caused heartaches for Papa. The right folks taught my father ways to “refresh” the brain.
RESOURCES:
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When one is not feeling well… learning new ways to improve one’s health can be overwhelming. I wish everyone compassionate advocates to help make the journey a gentler one.
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https://www.normandoidge.com Dr. Doidge’s books have been translated into 30+ languages!
Please ask librarians at public libraries.
Dr. Norman Doidge’s first book –
The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science
Dr. Norman Doidge’s second book –
The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity
Norman Doidge: Brain’s Healing Energies - 28 minutes
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Another helpful resource – the blog post by master teacher and holistic healer Gilles Marin -
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Thank you, holistic healer Stephanie Wilger, for telling me about:
Taoist Meditation: The Six Healing Sounds – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7UZa_zhOg9A
Thank you, YouTube channel user Andrew McCart!
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Thank you for reading my blog post “Parkinson’s Disease – Resources for Brave Patients and Compassionate Advocates”
Thank you, Mr. George Carlin (Angel Carlin), for inspiring me to eliminate unnecessary words.
Teresa Jade LeYung, 2019 Paris, photo by Mary E. Knippel
Teresa Jade LeYung
Story Theme Consultant / Photo Historian / Author / Blogger / Public Library and Public School Advocate
http://www.OurBeautifulBrains.com goes to Teresa’s Blog
Writing Coach Teresa Jade LeYung says: “I love helping writers identify the themes in their manuscripts to hook readers, and, build and fortify their platforms before and after publication. Reach out, not stress out.”
Love Made Of Heart ®
USA Federal government offering 4 COVID home test kits (2 boxes) for winter prep
https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://special.usps.com/testkits
August 7, 2018
Dear Readers,
I (Teresa Jade LeYung) write to you not as a novelist, theme consultant or found-object artist but as a memoirist, daughter of Mr. Leung, and a witness to joy and despair and a whole lot of kindness.
Papa was doing fine, as fine as a 84-year-old fellow with Parkinson’s Disease (and Diabetes and hypertension) could do. Just four months ago, he was using his walker several times a day … to go from his apartment to the balcony on his floor and to the courtyard in the senior building he lived in. To show off in the hallway, whenever a caregiver was nearby (and I have photos to prove this), he would abandon the walker and use the handrail to traverse the seventeen feet to the door of his apartment.
On July 19, around 5:00pm while I was away on a writing retreat with two dear friends/colleagues, my sister (who was here for the summer) called me to say that paramedics were taking our father to an E.R.
A few days prior to this one, his caregivers had been reporting (in Cantonese) that our papa was “looking sad”. That morning of July 19, caregiver Mrs. G. had reported to my sister that Papa was feeling dizzy. When my sister called me, my advice to her was to ask questions: “Had Papa eaten breakfast? Had he been drinking water everyday? What was he doing before feeling dizzy?” He would be seeing his primary care physician that afternoon at 4:00pm … Well, our papa was in no condition to go to the appointment. His primary care physician instructed my sister to call 9-1-1.
In E.R. and the hospital, our papa was being treated for pneumonia and urinary tract infection.
Pneumonia. When two friends heard the word “pneumonia” they gently prepared me for the worst case scenario. Well, Papa has beat the odds before.
He had aspiration pneumonia (probably caused by food or water going down the windpipe which led to bacteria infection).
And, he was fighting a urinary tract infection.
July 22 (the day that my sister flies home), Papa is transferred to a skilled nursing facility. He had bounced back before, twice last year – dehydration and falls. This time is different.
My papa is not Mr. John Pepper (the hero in Chapter 2 “The Man Who Walks Off His Parkinsonian Symptoms” in the book The Brain’s Way of Healing by Norman Doidge, M.D.). Papa is his own hero, winning smile, flaws and all.
Papa Makes Decision “Where Do I Go Now?” After Hospitalization. While In Skilled Nursing Rehabilitation.
August 7, I asked the Director of Social Services at the skilled nursing facility where Papa was at…
“Could we please have a meeting, with a Cantonese-speaking interpreter, so that my father can hear in his native language…what his choices are when he is discharged? I want him to make his own decision. He’s been asking me to help him go home. He needs to understand what is happening.”
Miracles involving my father also involves the ticking of a clock.
The meeting would take place that afternoon. I asked dear friend Sasa to go with me (I needed someone to witness my role). The meeting would take place after Papa has his lunch and before my friend would need to leave at 2pm.
Staff members at this institution are pulled in various directions during a work day. The Director of Social Services was most accommodating. Sasa and I arrived at 12:30, patients were waiting for lunch which was served later than usual today. 1:00pm Papa’s puree and “controlled carbs” meal arrived (looks delicious, really).
At 1:40pm all the characters for the scene were in place – Papa; director of social services; interpreter who is also activities director; my friend Sasa; Papa’s caregiver Mrs. G who was visiting; and me.
What are the 3 options when skilled nursing facility discharges Papa?
- Go home? He was receiving 5 hours/day of care through IHSS. He now needs 24-hour care. Who will pay for the 19 hours each day? His monthly income from Social Security is approximately $1,000; $300 of that goes to paying rent of a studio apartment in a senior housing; the balance pays for food, hygiene products, telephone, TV, SF Paratransit. My sister and I can contribute up to $700/month. Care-giving costs $35-$40/hour; most agencies want a 4-hour minimum each day; our $700/month would buy approximately 18 hours.
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- Go to an assisted living home or a board-and-care home (fewer residents in these types of homes) – in San Francisco Bay Area, minimum cost is over $3,000/month. According to https://www.senioradvisor.com/san-francisco-ca/how-much-does-san-francisco-assisted-living-cost on average, a senior can expect to pay approximately $54,000 per year on these services.
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- Accept a Medi-Cal bed in a nursing home for long-term care. (If Papa were to private pay, the cost of nursing home care would be more than $300/day.) Because he has Medi-Cal (thank God), he would authorize Social Security to transfer his monthly income to the nursing home. http://www.canhr.org/factsheets/medi-cal_fs/html/fs_medcal_overview.htm Medi-Cal is a combined federal and California State program designed to help pay for medical care for public assistance recipients and other low-income persons. There are 3 of these beds (vacancies) in the facility right now, on the nursing home floors.
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The Michael J. Fox Foundation www.michaeljfox.org
https://www.michaeljfox.org/foundation/news-detail.php?swallowing-and-parkinson-disease In addition to the classic motor symptoms of Parkinson’s (tremor, slowness, stiffness, walking and/or balance problems), a person may develop changes in speech and/or swallowing. Speech and swallowing therapy exercises, combined with Parkinson’s medication adjustment and, if necessary, dietary and/or behavioral modifications are the mainstays of management.
… to improve swallowing and lessen the risk of aspirating. These could include dietary modifications — such as thickening liquids — and/or behavioral strategies, such as avoiding drinking through straws, tucking the chin to the chest when swallowing or taking smaller bites at slower intervals.
To hear a webinar presented by Michael J. Fox Foundation on urinary problems and Parkinson’s… click here or look up any webinar by visiting at www.michaeljfox.org/webinar
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http://canhr.org/factsheets/rcfe_fs/html/rcfe_evalchecklist_fs.htm
Since 1983, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), a statewide nonprofit 501(c)(3) advocacy organization, has been dedicated to improving the choices, care and quality of life for California’s long term care consumers. Through direct advocacy, community education, legislation and litigation it has been CANHR’s goal to educate and support long term care consumers and advocates regarding the rights and remedies under the law, and to create a united voice for long term care reform and humane alternatives to institutionalization.
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Sincerely,
Teresa Jade LeYung
http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/papa-wins-parkinsons-disease-loses-papa-wins/
Dear Writers/Caregivers/Advocates for Loved Ones,
Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here . . . I see how helping a loved one/being an advocate is so much like writing a book.
My papa has been diagnosed with Parkinsonism by his neurologist. If Papa is telling his story, he would be the first-person narrator; if I’m telling the story about him, then I would be the third-person narrator.
A book (story) consists of one main character (also known as “hero” or “protagonist”) or multiple main characters and other characters (other archetypes), a subject matter that is discussed repeatedly (“theme”) and at least one plotline (“what happened?”). The merging of these elements helps the writer show the hero’s journey.
Helping a loved one/being an advocate consists of at least 2 protagonists (YOU and the loved one) and other archetypes (physicians, healthcare and social service providers, other family members and friends, neighbors, coworkers, vendors, . . . the stranger who gives up her/his seat on the train for you), themes (the cause for help and advocacy and the related issues), and plotlines (the interconnected events associated with all the characters). Who will be the most transformed in the story? The loved one? You the caregiver/advocate? The person who is most transformed would be the main character/hero/protagonist. Perhaps both people will go through great transformation. Two protagonists!
I am writing – I keep a notebook for whenever I visit my papa or when I do something on his behalf- gosh, there are so many little “subplots” to keep track of! (Is this Papa’s third or last session with the physical therapist? Mary and I need to witness the exercises so that when the P.T. closes the case, we would be able to coach Papa. Did he say he wanted another heating pad? Oh my, there are at least 18 model to choose from. Gotta review friends’ advice about what is a comfortable bed and also Consumer Reports. Then Papa has to “test drive” some beds. You just can’t shop for a mattress the way you shop for a pair of shoes.
MATTRESS SHOPPING TIPS (from Sealy’s website)
- Plan to spend at least one hour in the store.
- Wear loose clothing and easily removable shoes.
- Test out mattresses in groups of three for easier comparison.
- Lie on each mattress for 5 to 15 minutes to let it fully adapt to your body.
- Don’t feel rushed. It’s ok to ask for privacy.
I would add: Bring your own pillow so that your neck is supported while trying out mattresses; maybe bring an extra pillow case too.
And, I am reading the book The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge, M.D. Chapter 2 is titled “A Man Walks Off His Parkinsonian Symptoms” . . . how John Pepper has been able to reverse the major symptoms, the ones that Parkinson’s patients dread most, those that lead to immobility. He’s done so with an exercise program he devised and with a special kind of concentration . . .
All the “characters” in Dr. Doidge’s books (The Brain’s Way of Healing and The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science) and in Dr. Victoria Sweet‘s book (God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine) are guiding me on my journey as an advocate for my father. And, I just know that my mom plays a huge role in helping me.
I thank everyone who has given me her/his time, energy, and prayers.
Here are links to websites I’ve relied on lately:
https://franceskakugawa.wordpress.com/category/caregiving/ Frances Kakugawa
http://www.writeradvice.com/ywmtdw.html B. Lynn Goodwin
http://www.normandoidge.com/ Norman Doidge, M.D.
https://www.michaeljfox.org/ Michael J. Fox Foundation
Special thanks to Margie Yee Webb, Frances Kakugawa, Penny Manson, Debbie Ramos and her daughter Melanie who went out of their way to help me research specific items and to Mary, my sister Maria Leung, Linda Harris, Sue, Janet, and Elaine for being there in person.
Sincerely,
Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan
Author & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Reach out, not stress out. Enjoy your writer’s journey.”
http://WritingCoachTeresa.com
http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/
https://www.youtube.com/user/teresaleyung