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Rat Poison or Life Giving Potion

A friend called last week worried about her dad. He is not a hysterical person at all and he was worried he was going to die. He blamed his"darn coumadin". He was having a whole slew of symptoms including dizziness, exhaustion, general malaise, poor balance, chest pains, nausea, headache, decreased mental sharpness and the night before I met him he felt like I could die". He had seen his doctors and had his medicines adjusted because of low blood pressure and pulse. This did not make him feel better. His pulse and blood pressures which were both low(they always have run low his whole life) did NOT correlate with his negative symptoms. His labs were ok. His echocardiogram turned out ok(he had had previous heart surgery). Although his symptoms seemed like they could be heart failure, this was not the case.

We talked several times over the next few days between his tests. He was convinced it was his coumadin. His doctors here and previous doctors from the Mayo Clinic told him he had to take coumadin. He thought it was killing him. He was in a tough position. It is really hard to take a pill every day that you think is hurting you.

Over the next few days, he shifted in his attitude toward coumadin. He came to realize that it was ABSOLUTELY necessary and it was not going to harm him. He "befriended" his coumadin and resumed taking it. He took it with a peaceful heart. His symptoms all went away. He came back to feeling well. His mind was once again at peace and his body followed suit.

This case reinforced what I have come to believe about healing. (1) Our perceptions and beliefs mean everything when it comes to health and healing. (2) Things may not always make sense to me but they make sense when viewed through the eyes of the patient (3) Healing happens when beliefs shift(taking the coumadin(previously thought of as "rat poison") with a positive perspective makes all the difference. Major symptoms dissolve when attitudes shift.

It took a long time and many sources(his wife, daughter, 2 cardiologists, and me) to change his perception and beliefs but when he shifted, all returned to peace. No pacemaker necessary. No hospitalization or further medicines. Just a shift in beliefs. Wow!

Comments

Katie Kobayashi said…
That is exactly what I went through when I had to come to terms with taking Tamoxifen....acceptance is the key. Thank you for sharing, Dr. Kalina.. Blessings, Kathleen Kobayashi
More on this thought about how positive outlook has an effect on our health:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-r-hamilton-phd/positive-people-live-long_b_774648.html?ref=nf

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