Archive for April, 2010

The Power of Music

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

I would like to share a story with you as I think it contains some meaningful messages.

Last weekend two friends with a truck drove me to Yakima (on the other side of the State) to pick up a piano for my office. (That is a different story.)

On our way back we took a little detour so I could drop off some CD’s for my best friend.  . . . .but I need to explain.

We have been best  friends since we were two years old (and that is a long time!).  She had as close to a perfect marriage as anyone I had ever known and after  her husband died it was painful to watch her health decline.  It was as though she was dying of a broken heart.  She lost 80% of her heart capacity, and could barely walk across the room or speak in full sentences.  About a year ago she called me and said she had her energy back and was feeling great.  She explained she had met up with an old high school friend and he had taken her dancing!  I suggested she continue whatever she was doing as it was obviously working.

I went to see her last Christmas.  We went out for dinner, reminisced and laughed a lot.  It was just like old times and I was so relieved to see her doing so well.  Then, on New Years Eve as she was sitting in front of her TV eating dinner, she had a stroke and has required around-the-clock care ever since.  She has been confined to a wheel chair and her only walking has been with the help of  her physical therapist using a gait belt.

So back to the CD’s I took to her, one of which is my favorite, Beegie Adair’s newest album, “Swingin’ With Sinatra”  (GreenHill Music – it’s also the music you hear when you call JoViPak.)  She called me the next day and was so excited.  She loved the music, especially “You Make Me Feel So Young,” and  said, “my friend came over and WE DANCED TO IT!  I said, “You what?!  Did your friend have to hold you up?”  She said, “No, he couldn’t, he has a bad back!”  I considered it something close to a miracle and it reminded me of the value of friendship and the power of music.  Also, as I’m sure every  therapist will agree, there is  no greater satisfaction than knowing we have done something to make someone else’s life a little easier.

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Medicare coverage for lymphedema

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

It’s been a busy week.  Carol Johnson, OTR/L from North Carolina has recently joined the JoViPak staff and we spent most of our time last week working on product development and writing letters to our legislators in Washington D.C. asking for their support of the House Bill 4662.  (Refer to my previous blogs.)  As therapists we want our lymphedema patients to have the best care possible and it is very difficult for us to watch our elderly clientele go without because Medicare won’t pay for their treatment or the products they need to manage their condition.

The author of this bill is Bob Weiss whose wife has struggled with lymphedema for years.  It continues to amaze me how much effort and personal expense he as invested into being an advocate for the lymphedema community.  Both he and Carol will be meeting with several legislators next month in Washington D.C. to discuss the various aspects of this bill.

As we get caught up in our enthusiasm over the possibility of Medicare paying for lymphedema treatment and supplies, we can’t ignore one serious ramification.  What if Medicare takes it on and gives lymphedema supplies, e.g. compression garments, HCPC billing codes and reimbursement amounts that are far below the cost to manufacture these products or the wholesale cost to resellers.  It is safe to assume that once Medicare establishes a price, other insurance companies will follow.  If in doing that, we force the manufacturers and the DME’s who sell these products out of business, then what?  Where does that leave the patient?  Will they have to look to other countries to provide them with cheaper and quite probably inferior quality products?

Please ask your legislators to support this bill, and it is important that you also ask them to consider, as well as support those people providing the goods and services by acknowledging their right to charge the patient for any shortfall not covered by the Medicare reimbursement.

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Say No to GMO

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Of all the presentations at the nutrition conference, I have to say Jeffrey Smith’s lecture on Genetically Modified Foods had the greatest impact on me.  I thought I knew what GMOs were all about, but I had no idea the extent of their risk to our health and environment.  Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been linked to toxic and allergic reactions, thousands of sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ and system studied in lab animals.

Do you remember when the supplement L-tryptophan was taken off the market and we were all afraid that might be the end of all supplements?   There were 100 deaths and thousands became sick or disabled.  It took years to find the source and guess what . . . . the supplement itself was not the problem.  The contaminated products all came from a lab using genetically engineered bacteria, and if all the victims had not experienced one shared symptom of intense debilitating muscle pain (myalgia), the cause might have remained undiscovered. The disease it created was called EMS or eosinophilia myalgia syndrome as it also raised white blood cell count high enough to indicate a severely disrupted immune system.  What is really unsettling about all of this is the fact that we have unknowingly been eating genetically modified ingredients since 1996 and there are still no safeguards for GM-produced food or supplements.   Since there are no warning labels on any of the genetically modified foods we consume in America, (GMOs are not allowed in Europe) it is imperative that we educate ourselves and “opt out of this high-stakes gamble by refusing GM foods.”  I urge you to go to www.ResponsibleTechnology.org and click on Mr. Smith’s video.  It is an 85-minute lecture, similiar to the one I heard two weeks ago and I guarantee once you have seen it you will have an entirely new attitude about the food you choose to buy for yourself and your family.  I suggest you download his Non-GMO Shopping Guide as you will find very helpful in identifying the safe foods as well as those that are at high risk, e.g. the “Big Four” - Corn, Soy, Canola and Cotton.  (Another good reason to avoid vegetable oils!)

Jeffrey Smith has authored several books on Genetic Engineering.   His first book,  ”Seeds of Deception” was required reading in my nutrition class.  His latest book is very appropriately named, “Genetic Roulette, The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods” and he has created a Web site, www.GeneticRoulette.com, to promote serious scientific debate on the details presented in his book.

It was pressure from concerned consumers that got the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (rbGH) out of our milk. Let’s do our part to get genetically modified organisms (GMOs) out of our food.

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