I’m a Believer

Warning: Heavy topic. Move on to the jokes if you’re not into this.

She screamed every time she changed her position because her lower back was killing her.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

This is the first time my wife had this problem so she was skeptical when I said she should go to a chiropractor. She was in a lousy mood as we made our way to Dr. Wendy. She was as stiff as a rusty robot that needed a large dose of Windex (WD40). If you were on the other room you’d think she was giving birth or something. She asked me to get her something to eat so I left to get her a snack. When I came back she was done. The disappointed look on her face told me the treatment didn’t help.

However, maybe about 2 hours later, she was surprised that the pain had subsided. Was it the ibuprofen (pain killer) or was it Dr. Wendy? A few more hours later she was in a good mood. “I’m a believer!” she said. Some of the pain came back the next morning but it wasn’t as acute. Her bones were still adjusting I guess. The same thing happened to me when I had my own back problems. She is looking to her next appointment this Friday morning.

Here’s another testament to the wonders of alternative medicine: I became a “believer” years ago when my right wrist experienced the early stage of carpal tunnel syndrome due to the awkward way I held my computer mouse. I called my nurse friend who said I should get a wrist brace and take Motrin to kill the pain, otherwise, I would need to have an operation. I wore that brace for a week. Motrin helped but the pain never really left.

As I entered a BNI (Business Network International) business meeting, my chiropractor friend, Dr. Mark, stared at my wrist guard and asked me why I was wearing that evil contraption. After I explained, he said that was silly; he took off the brace, massaged my wrist — up and down he went while “oooh, oooh, ahhh, ahhh!” I squirmed. Doctor Masochist tortured me for about 3 minutes and then he said it was done and to never wear that brace again. I thought he was crazy. But the next morning (betcha by golly wow!) the pain was gone. The debilitating meta carpal tunnel thingy never came back.

Another time, I woke up with an excruciating pain in my left shoulder. It was so bad I couldn’t lift my elbow past the height of my shoulder. Again western medical experts said I needed to have an operation. I met this Amazonian lady from Hawaii in the same BNI business meeting. She said she did Deep Tissue Massage and that she could help me. This woman had vise grip fingers. She massaged the veins under my shoulder blade like she was flattening the wrinkles of an aluminum foil. She did it in 3 sessions. Just when the sadomasochist in me began to manifest, the pain all but disappeared. And to this day I can still extend my arm to its full capacity.

WESTERN MEDS
Through the years I’ve learned to balance Western and Eastern medicine. (And of course some doctors are better than others). One of my forever friends, Dr. Manny, is a retired oncologist who helps my friends by giving away his free medical opinion (what a guy!). I’ve learned not to trust the highly politicized and corrupted FDA who have legalized dangerous psychotropic drugs. Same goes with the WHO (World Health Organization) who encouraged vaccination over developing immunity and other alternative medications. I only got my vaccinations so I could fly home to visit my sick Dad. Call me a conspiracy theorist but my suspicious mind wants to know who are getting rich over anything these institutions recommend. Yeah, yeah, Mr. Conspiracy Theorist — that’s my middle name. Aw c’mon don’t tell me you trust everything the government tells you.

An old client was a Compounding Pharmacist and she claimed she knew drugs better than the doctors. Doctors learn what meds to use for certain situations. Pharmacists understand why those meds work.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DILEMMA
During the early years of AI, I had hopes that an IBM program named Watson would modernize medical diagnosis because their database is fed with the latest discoveries that human doctors don’t have time to read about. But I didn’t expect that AI would be weaponized like they are now. Ask Alexa why you should vote for Trump and she says she “cannot provide content for a specific candidate.” But ask Alexa why you should vote for Kamala and she has a long list of reasons. (If you have Alexa, go ahead and try it while they still haven’t fixed this bias.) It’s true — the computer is only as smart and honest as the data and the algorithms you feed it. So the real cure may be suppressed to protect the interests of Big Pharma and the shadow government.

TWITTER: A GAME CHANGER
Tik Tok is for mindless entertainment (I don’t trust these guys) but Twitter is for thinkers (pretty humble, huh?). Thank God for Elon Musk who took over Twitter for the sake of Free Speech. I know some of you may not think so but it truly is a platform for (relatively) free speech. (It’s full of good and bad influencers or people who simply regurgitates an idea … it’s still evolving … just be patient with each other). When you get the hang of it, it’s quite obvious who refuse to listen to opposing ideas in order to preserve a dreamlike unrealistic narrative vs. those who are open to discuss alternatives. Thanks to Twitter, it’s a new era where the mainstream media no longer hold a monopoly of the news. The news comes from eyewitness accounts of the ordinary guy.

LAND OF THE FREE
They say Satan is the father of lies and we live in his world where truth and integrity swim in the same pool as deception and ulterior motives. One can be easily disillusioned. But take heart and remain optimistic because “someone else” is more powerful and everything he said was/is true. It was true then and (thankfully) it’s still true now. And you know how the saying goes … “the truth shall set you free.”

Technology and medicine are still evolving. Hold on to your seats. It’s gonna be an interesting ride.

But this is just me. TGIF people!

“Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do ‘practice’?” — George Carlin

“How do you tell the psychiatrists from the patients in the hospital? The patients get better and leave..” —Lisa Scottoline

“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.” — Aesop

JOKE OF THE WEEK

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

Original art by Raoul Pascual.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Tom of Pasadena, CA

Thanks to Sharon of Connecticut

Thanks to Colleen of Washington State

Thanks to Jane of San Diego, CA

–
Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre, CA

Thanks to Drew of Anaheim, CA

Thanks to Benny of Detroit

I found these:

My good friend (and jokester) Terry and I came up with this.

SUBSCRIBE

The post Senior Thinking appeared first on Traveling Archive.

A Parking Spot

[This article is a little religious so skip to the jokes if it makes you nervous please.]

There’s a joke about a woman looking for a parking spot during the frenzy of a Christmas Shopping. It’s so crowded that she makes a desperate deal with God: “I promise to give up my bad habits, forgive all my enemies and start going to church if you grant me a teenie weenie space.” Suddenly a spot opens and she looks up and says “Oh, never mind God, I found one!”

Many of us experience a miracle and we never even know it.

I don’t want to harp on my recent illness but it would be a crime if I didn’t thank you for your prayers. They truly helped in my most painful moments. For those who don’t know the history of my remark, I’ll try to explain as concisely as I can.

Almost 2 months ago my blood pressure (BP) went up and, because of the pandemic, I had to meet my doctor via zoom. My regular doctor was unavailable so a temporary doctor stepped in. She looked like she was still in intern school and I had little confidence on her prognosis. This “Doogie Howser” gave me 4 times my regular dosage of my BP medication. I reluctantly followed her advice. In a few hours, I got all weird inside — naueseuos, weak, muscle aches, exhaustion, chills — it was as if well-mannered Dr. Jekyll was convulsing into the sinister Mr. Hyde. Sure my BP went down but oooh! my body turned into a useless shell. I was literally thinking “is this where it ends?” My wife rushed me to the Urgent Care and then the Emergency Room. I was in pain but at least I wasn’t gonna die.

I scheduled a second zoom meeting with my regular doctor and I complained that I was too weak to even turn over in bed without difficulty. I would wake up with frozen fingers difficult to bend. I couldn’t work. A few minutes on the computer and I needed to rest. The doctor feared that I developed fibromyalgia and I would have muscular aches for the rest of my life. I researched on how to cope with the disease only to find there is no cure. I would never play the guitar again, I would never sing again … my squiggly writing told me I would never draw again. I blamed that young doctor who triggered my failing nervous system.

(I do have to mention that I could barely walk when I went to Dr. Wendy, a skilled chirpractor, who put my aching bones in place and allowed blood to flow correctly. She was amazing.)

Here’s the twist. What I thought was the Kiss of Death from the overdose turned out to be a blessing from God. Doogie Howser gave me a Matrix choice — the BLUE pill (weeks of nausea) or the RED pill (a heart attack or stroke and open heart surgery) — and I took the BLUE pill. I only now understood why they gave me an EKG and a brain scan. They were looking for a blockage. I should have had a heart attack.

My daughter (a nurse) said after living with abnormal hypertension all my life, my body was just adjusting to “normal.” I’ve waited patiently for almost 2 months since the start of my demise and today I went to my cardiologist for my cardio echo test (no results yet but I feel good about it). I believe I’m back! BP is OK and no more muscular pain. A miracle touched my tired body. God gave me a parking spot.

We have an amazing God who listens and answers prayers … YOUR prayers. I mean it guys, thank you.

TGIF people!
Raoul

Thanks to Art of Sierra Madre for this timely gag.

Video of the Week

Thanks to Mel of Washington, DC who shared this video.
Somehow, working and slaving for retirement for
that Ferrari doesn’t cut it.

Parting Shots

Thanks to Debbie of Moreno Valley, CA

The post A Perfect Zero appeared first on Traveling Archive.