In The Line of Duty

Trauma surgeons have a number of phrases that they say to those in training, sort of like in the military to the 'grunts'. The phrases are funny because they have an essential truth in them. Today I will share the adage, 'In Trauma (surgery), remember, the life you save may one day live to take your own.'

Yesterday while I was writing about Ascension, I omitted an important event: while I was saving the life of the patient that had something bad going on in their lungs and they couldn't breathe. They coughed a lung full of air on me right when I was taking in a breath!

My first reaction was 'gross!' but quickly my focus went back to my patient who was going to get the tube. My second reaction was while I was writing the procedure into the medical record--'I hope it is something for the immunocompromised and won't affect someone healthy like me?' My third reaction was just before I woke up. I had the chills but was not sure if it was the 'flu' or the energy downloads I ask my Guides to 'crank up' to get me towards Ascension. I tell them 'crank up my vibration as much as you can to the point of pain if you must' and also 'I don't care if I turn see-through or look different through the changes--I just want it to be complete'.

So I don't know. I don't know if the 'flu' that has been going through my workplace like wildfire was incubating in my system before I got the exposure to a respiratory illness from my patient.

I have to wait and see.

What have I been exposed to in my work? Well, I got 'stuck' with a needle twice. Once while sewing closed the skin of an infant after congenital heart surgery. That was with a solid needle, and low risk. (Two surgeons got 'stuck' on Monday, a rare thing in the career of a surgeon, in two separate O.R.'s) The other time was with a hollow needle in my work as an attending in 2001. Nothing happened, but both times I made the call, went to employee health, and coordinated the blood draws of the patient and my own blood per protocol.

I know of an ER physician who was intubated and on disability after intubating someone in extremis (ready to die) in the ER with some mystery disease. It was similar in presentation and disease  (although I can't tell you more details). I have made it past the 'window' where she succumbed so I guess I am going to be okay. I also have asked St. Germain and his Violet Flame to help me out.

Father Damien, the priest who took care of the leprosy colony on Molokai, Hawaii, eventually succumbed to the disease himself.

Next time you go to the doctor, remember that your doc, and all the team, put their life on the line every day so you can have a place to go when you are sick and want to feel better.

And the more I see things like 'the flu arriving on cue' with the news broadcasts,  the more I see the value in whole, organic, life-giving foods and lifestyle.

When medicines won't work, traditional ones are the last hope.

Yesterday in the OR I was reading this article about The Mandrake--    Mandragora: Anesthetic of the Ancients                           .  It is fascinating, the use of plants to heal. I hope you enjoy the article too. I just checked, and it is apparently fifteen dollars to view if you are not a subscriber like me. Such is the world of publishing. If you have access to an electronic library, I am sure you will be able to find a link to the article for free.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Hey Healer? Cooties--and you!

Okay, I was going to title this: Infectious Disease 101 for Energy Healers, but who would have wanted to click on that?

In doing my research for another article, I noted that a significant amount of Reiki is done in hospitals by volunteers working on cancer patients. Most of the bigger programs have Reiki practitioners who are 'official volunteer status', which means, there is documentation to prove that 'they have had their shots' and that they understand basic infectious disease control precautions.

I thought about it over the past few days. You know, in my Reiki classes when I trained, we never even washed our hands!

Did you know in the O.R. we have three classes of cases? Clean, clean-contaminated, and dirty, depending on the part of the body we are planning to work. In the event of someone with something that may be contagious to a following patient, the entire room undergoes a 'terminal clean'. We are hyper vigilant about infection, for a good reason. (The most infectious disease is the prion, the cause of Creuzfelt-Jakob and Mad-cow disease spongiform encephalitis. After a brain biopsy, we dispose of all instruments used on the case.)

So I thought, you know, there are some well-meaning Light Workers out there, who may or may not have physical contact with their clients, and they ought to know the basis on this infectious disease stuff so they can make their own decisions with this information.

Basically, there are three topics to discuss:
1) Things that are catchy to you and to your other clients
2) How to keep yourself and others from spreading anything infectious
3) Things you can carry to someone with a weakened immune system, and possibly kill them


Here are some things that are 'catchy' between people:

PARASITES:

1. lice
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001843/

2. scabies
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001833/

3. bed bugs
http://www.orkin.com/other/bed-bugs/

4. ringworm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002411/

DISEASES SPREAD BY TOUCHING A PERSON OR SURFACE--contact transmission:
MRSA
VRE
C. Difficile
'Pink Eye' conjunctivitis
E Coli O157:H7

DISEASES SPREAD BY BREATHING--respiratory transmission--droplet or airborne:
tuberculosis
varicella
measles
meningitis

How disease is spread, in summary by the Australians--a very nice list of what is what and how it is spread:
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/ygw/waysspread-pehs-sahealth-2009.pdf

Here is a thorough description of types of disease transmission and its prevention by Respiratory Therapists:
http://www.johnynami.com/transmissionofdisease.pdf

For example, the most personal protective equipment is necessary for blood-borne transmission, such as Hepatitis C or HIV, and these are worn:
gloves
gowns
bonnets
shoe covers
face shields
goggles
surgical masks (respirators if respiratory transmission)



Here are some steps to protect your patients and yourself:

contact precautions--in general always have good hand hygine:
wash your hands with soap before working with a patient. Use soap and water, scrub for thirty seconds (hint-sing the alphabet song), with friction, and use a paper towel to dry your hands completely. (Air blowers actually spread microbes up to four feet in the vicinity!)

contact precautions--known infectious agent:
use disposable sheets, gowns, gloves for yourself and patient.
disinfect all surfaces after each patient
follow hospital guidelines if in a medical facility

respiratory precautions--you or your client is 'coming down with something':
wear a surgical mask, and offer one to your patient if they are sneezing/have the flu
disinfect all surfaces after each patient
wash hands often and effectively
By the way,  in the hospital they use positive pressure ventilation rooms and negative pressure ones, depending if the germs need to stay out (immunocompromised) or in (respiratory spread of disease)


Yes, you can infect your client:
who is at risk:
immunosuppression-having had measles, chemo, or radiation
neutropenic patient (disease or chemo)
cancer
organ transplant
bone marrow transplant

And here is what can happen:
chicken pox can be fatal. If you have not had Chicken Pox or been vaccinated you should not work with this client on the off-chance you could catch chicken pox and transmit it to them before you know you have chicken pox.
pseudomonas, commonly found in the nose, can result in overwhelming systemic infection
influenza is particularly hard to fight in the elderly and the very young (the extremes of age)

Because of the known risk of transmission of these diseases, a typical health care worker is immunized against the following diseases, and must prove active immunity and up-to-date records to work:
Hepatitis B
Influenza
Measles
Mumps
Rubella
Tetanus
Diptheria
Pertussis
N. meningitidis
Varicella

If the best of intent leads to someone getting sicker without your knowing it, through Reiki or Energy Medicine that comes from you, is it worth it?

Why not take the steps to inform yourself, those you work with, and instill basic disease-prevention practice into your Energy work?

Namaste,

Reiki Doc