Friday, August 7, 2015

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ABOUT LIVING WITH A CHRONIC DISEASE

A LETTER TO SOMEONE JUST DIAGNOSED WITH A CHRONIC DISEASE

I’m writing this letter to you because I know how you feel. You may have just been diagnosed with one or more of the chronic diseases sweeping the world in what has been called an epidemic – heart disease, cancer, diabetes or an autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis. Maybe you’ve suffered all your life with asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis, thyroid issues, sinus issues, gut issues, migraines, back pain, chronic fatigue, depression or anxiety.

I’m writing to say I know how you feel. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease ten years ago. I thought I was seeing a doctor to be prescribed medication or be told to put my feet up for a few weeks. Instead I was told there wasn’t any cure for what I had. This is a ‘rest of your life’ kind of thing. What followed was a seemingly endless cycle of appointments, tests and prescriptions followed by more tests, follow up appointments and different prescriptions.

Doctors almost always ran late. One specialist ran a minimum of two hours late every time I saw him. I would take half a day off work to see him for ten minutes. Another never glanced up from his computer screen to look me in the eye. I had waited months for the appointment and instead of talking to me, he spoke notes into a recorder for his secretary to write up as though I wasn’t in the room. I was just numbers on a screen; and because those numbers didn’t neatly fit the diagnostic criteria of illnesses in his textbooks, I was sent on my way with a ‘this might work’ prescription and told to come back in three months. No one in the conventional medical community offered me concrete actions or recommended steps that I could take for myself.

But I’m writing this letter to say two things:

You are not alone. In fact more than one in two people will be diagnosed with a chronic illness in their lifetime according to the World Health Organisation. We are all in this together.

There is hope.

There are many many many things you can do for yourself. These things do not involve wishing yourself well by saying ‘I am healthy’ a hundred times a day, nor does the answer lie solely in taking a concoction of herbs and supplements recommended by a well meaning alternative therapist, though I know sometimes they are useful tools in your kit. The answers don’t even lie in quitting your job, eating only organic food or cleaning out all the toxic chemicals from your house. While those actions may help, I have spoken to too many people who have followed them diligently and still remained ill to believe they are the only way forward.

The hope I offer lies in the latest research into mind body medicine – the scientific line of enquiry to understand how our mind and body interact to affect our health. I’m talking about evidence-based, practical steps that you can take that will make a huge difference to your health.

You will find many of the things you can do for yourself featured in posts throughout this blog and in my documentary The Connection. These steps are based on peer reviewed academic research coming out of places like Harvard, Stanford and Yale which has exploded in the last five to ten years with thanks to advancements in modern technology; research which is so hot off the press that even our doctors haven’t had time to absorb it; research linking the brain to the immune system; research linking the brain to the gut to the immune system; research showing the importance of group support in improving outcomes for sick people and how feeling part of a close connected community affects our biochemistry in a way that makes it a keystone in the foundation of health; research showing that stress reduction techniques like meditation can flip the switch on genes affecting disease and slow the rate of cellular aging in our body, and research showing that the interaction between a patient and a doctor can significantly alter the way a sick person’s body responds to treatment.

If this is the first time you’ve come across this blog, then here are three things you might like to consider to get started on a self-care program right away.

Prioritise your health

In this crazy busy hectic world it is too easy to make health low on the priority list. Too often we put ourselves behind our jobs, our family, loved ones or friends who we see as being more in need of our thoughts, time and efforts than ourselves. Having a chronic disease forces you to rethink those priorities. You need sleep, movement and nourishment above and beyond anything or anyone else in your life. You need to come number one – no matter what.

Change your relationship to stress

This is not about somehow finding a way to cut out all the stress in your life. The human stress response is as natural as our need to breathe air. This is about making use of stress as a force for good and learning to re-frame harmful chronic long-term stress. Here’s a meditation 101 if you want to get started on learning some proven chronic stress reduction techniques. Here’s an explanation of how to determine good stress from bad stress.

Find your tribe and get support

As Dr. Dean Ornish recently wrote, the real epidemic in our culture is not just heart disease, cancer, or obesity; it’s loneliness and depression. One in ten Americans is taking antidepressant medication. Research has shown that people who feel isolated and alone are far more likely to get sick; and when you’re sick it can feel like no one in the world understands. Find a group of people who understand what you are going through. They may be close friends or family members you can reach out to, a local community group that meets regularly to discuss their illness, or even just a group who meets to discuss books, meditate or play cards. There are also wonderful online communities. Put your energy into the groups that uplift you; the ones that offer practical tips and problem solving solutions as well as their love, support and empathy. Don’t expect immediate connection with people either. Give it time. It may take months or years. But if you nourish them, they will nourish you in return. My favourite example of the power of community when it comes to health is the story of Roseto, which I featured in my film. Check out this animation which explains how a cigar smoking, wine drinking, meatball loving community came to have the lowest rate of heart disease in the US at a time when the illness was the country’s number one health concern.

I’m writing this letter because I want to reach people who feel they have run out of options. It’s been over ten years since a doctor told me he thought I had Lupus – an illness that meant my own immune system was attacking my body, and an illness for which there is no cure. I am happy to say that as I write these words I am really well and I am not on medication. While I’ve had setbacks along the way, my life is unrecognisable from what it was when I first got sick. My hope is that this letter finds you and gives you a starting point from which to start your own evidence-based health deep dive. I can’t promise all this will make you live longer. But I can promise, you will live better.

Wishing you wellness,

Shannon Harvey

Director, The Connection

Learn more about the mind-body connection and how it affects your health, including remarkable stories of people recovering from chronic disease. Watch the first 15 minutes of the feature documentary ‘The Connection’ for FREE.

About the author: Shannon Harvey

Shannon Harvey is a journalist and producer who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease when she was 24 years old. Although doctors meant well, none could offer her a cause or a cure. Since then Shannon has been researching the latest scientific research linking her mind and body to health outcomes. Nearly 10 years have passed since her diagnosis and today Shannon is well and not taking medication. Shannon has worked as a television, radio and online journalist and producer and has a Master’s degree in Communications. She worked for the ABC and Fairfax before starting her own production company, Elemental Media. Shannon is the director of the feature film The Connection.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Slogger Blogger

I am impressed by consistent bloggers who write weekly or every few. At least they write, and months don't go by with n-o-t-h-i-n-g and a wonder if they died. I have been tempted to just shut this little blog down, being the slogger blogger that I am:) But then I was asked a question about what have I been tempted to give up on and quit. It's not like I have an audience waiting to hear meaningful words from me. But honestly it is fun to click away as the Spirit gives me voice. So this is an easy share....

Some of my favorite meaningful blogs:

http://www.ifequip.com

http://shereadstruth.com

http://annvoskamp.com

Two of my favorite Podcasts:

http://www.dailyaudiobible.com

http://rickwarren.org

A few of my favorite books read this year:

Undone by Michelle Cushatt
Meaningful!!! About living well in pain, suffering and loss. Listen to this audio from the author here: http://www.moodyradio.org/radioplayer.aspx?episode=164468

Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
It's a really good, slow meditative read.

Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
Ha! I never read these as a child and am over 700 pages into the compilation of his children's fiction. Love it!!!

The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
Reread this one....love how it draws me close to the Lord in an out-of-the-box manner.

Crossroads by same author

Rooms by Janes L. Rubart
Both of these last two are a bit predictable, but along the lines of The Shack and I enjoyed them.

I so appreciate the gift of encouragement found everywhere we look! Am grateful for simple things like eyes to see and ears to hear and legs to walk and so much love to give and receive!

Saturday, April 18, 2015

BECOMING BRAVE

Becoming brave happens, with effort. Developing courage comes slowly. One small step after a setback after another small step.

When you pick yourself up again.
When God blows a breath of His strength into the fatigue.
When you wipe away tears of disappointment and put on your shoes.
When you dare to hope for a better day today.
When you choose to love out of empty strength.

"Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is moving ahead in spite of your fear", Rick Warren says.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust the LORD with all your heart, and don’t depend on your own understanding. Remember the LORD in all you do, and he will give you success”

Today. I. choose. to. be. brave.

Monday, April 13, 2015

God's Grace in Struggles

I'm so grateful for God in the midst of struggles and suffering! That His Word speaks volumes of truth giving hope in the middle of it all! Everyone suffers in one way or a dozen. First Peter 1 tells how God knows all about it ahead of time, the suffering and hard stuff we'll undergo, and knows what it will look like in each of our lives. And He has great purpose in it, a purpose that is actually a multiplication of His grace and His peace. Astounding! His unmerited favor to endure & overcome and His peace to not lose our minds or become bitter!

So I can know from the passage that when life is tough, if I will let Him, he will use the difficulties to set me apart in the Spirit and help me learn obedience to Jesus Christ. What a beautiful thing Good Friday and Easter are - the reminders that Jesus Himself learned obedience to the Father through what He suffered. So He truly is our help and knows what suffering is!

All this to say that I can genuinely be full of hope and joy, because this world is not all there is and I am awaiting the salvation of my soul when Jesus returns, that great and awesome day of the Lord spoken of so long ago! While I wait, God's grace and peace will be sufficient.

Friday, March 27, 2015

FIGHTING FOR GRATITUDE

I am coming through a season of fighting for gratitude. Well, losing at it actually. And wanting to walk in gratefulness again. It's incredibly hard sometimes! I don't know what happened, but I all of a sudden I looked and there I was sitting at the bottom of some dark deep muddy well. I was covered with slimy mud that smelled horrible. I glanced up a few times but decided it was too hard of a climb and too far up, so I settled back in and wallowed.

What is that about? I've fought this gratitude battle for over 3 years (with the Mighty One actually doing the fighting) and been quite successful, if I say so myself.

So I think I decided one day to take a good look at all I've lost these last few years. Yep. Good idea, huh? And as I took one step all by myself into this picture, it grew. And stretched out. And enveloped all who were looking. That was mostly just me, and of course my lucky husband who had no choice but to be a bystander. I kept my eyes transfixed on my losses.

It was so so so ugly. I became so so ugly. My world became so ugly. It was not a pretty place to reside or to even take a glance of. The sweet fragrance of Jesus in my life turned into a dank swampy smell. I may be in a slightly melodramatic state even now in these descriptions. But golly gee, I don't want to go there again! (Nor does the grace-filled husband who lives with me.)

Thankfully a snuggly nearly-3 year old and a smiling ear-to-ear 1 year old reaching chubby hands towards me snapped a rope around this Oma and yanked her out of the pit! They left today.

So what am I going to do now? It's a moment of decision.....and I am choosing life. ("Choosing:" active continual present tense verb.) I choose the way of Jesus, to lay down my life and trust my Savior, the One who laid down His life for me so I could have real life. With Him will I dance.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

SETTLING IN

I so enjoy settling in at night under our comfy quilt on our comfy mattress wrapped in our comfy soft sheets with Asher piled next to me or between us, sighing deeply his contentment. I enjoy settling and snuggling into my Christmas gift down coat and ear-covering hat and lined gloves on our way out the door for a 19 degree morning walk. I like to settle into my car with the seat and heat turned on high. I relish a hot cup of ginger green tea fresh off the stove, a cozy chair and a phone call with a special girlfriend. I like to be settled. It gives me comfort. Security. Rest.

Yet how many are never settled? Hungry stomachs. Unsafe shacks. Untrustworthy neighbors. Dangerous relatives. Poverty, war, today-slavery, abuse. It's too much. What can one person do? But to ask the God of the universe who owns everything, to come. To help. To rescue. To reveal Himself and bow down again to His creation.

I love to piggyback on the work others are doing. To join in the relief efforts and life-building channels they create to help those enslaved in diverse ways. To give a glimpse of hope and pathway to freedom.

Yet still, I often seem to pursue this place of being settled. Even knowing I live with such comfort. Sometimes I find it. Sometimes not. It's when I'm focused on Jesus. Listening to Him in His word. Looking up. Looking outside myself. Yes. That's the place. All else is temporal. Fleeting comfort. So like Paul, I am able to say I am content with plenty or lack, comfort or not, ease or disease. God....

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

BACK IN THE SADDLE OF A DIFFERENT HORSE

I'm back in the saddle again. Jennie Allen spoke the magnetic statement I've adopted, "God, I will do ANYTHING," in her book Anything. My heart so agrees and I want to be and do anything for my Savior, who has changed me and my life forever.

What I didn't know is that with God, sometimes choosing God's "anything" and getting back in the saddle means getting off a lot of other horses and letting go.....

Letting go of leading women -

Letting go of driving vision for women's ministry -

Letting go of the pretty hat of leadership I enjoyed wearing -

Letting go of a passion and a meaningful way to serve -

Letting go of a secret pride -

I told Joelle last night across the table at Whole Foods, I always thought telling God I'd do anything meant doing more, stepping out, taking risks of adventure. I didn't know He'd ask me to step out by stepping down, so His surprises and gifts of a different sort may come to me. My meeting yesterday with our pastor and turning in my leadership button sealed the deal.

So in riding this pony of RA (and sometimes a bucking bronco) for the past 3.5 years, I'm following the lead of my husband, the counsel of godly women and Jesus in choosing for 2015 ---- GRATITUDE and FOCUS.

I asked God 4 years ago this month to make me a genuinely, from the core, grateful woman. I had no idea of his methodology for me. I've made some strides but I desire to be so full of spilling-out gratitude regardless of difficulties and limitations! So I am asking God to help me focus in this new season. To focus on Him as first order always. From Him comes my joy and peace and wisdom. And to focus on rested care of this body.

In sorting through boxes before Christmas, I found a letter my sweet sister Maryanne wrote quite a few years ago. She said she was so thankful to God and grateful for the lupus disease she had. Maryanne has mastered gratitude from the core for decades. I'm not there and long for God to delight in creating a deeply grateful woman in me.

God of miracles, please create gratitude and focus in this servant. I am Yours.

(Thank you Ellen for encouraging me to blog again and reading these words that tumble out! I love you!)