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Learn to Protect Your Rights as a Patient

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DR LYDIA THURTON

My best friend has been in the hospital for two weeks, with no end in sight. Originally, she was told that she would be in for a maximum of five days. It was a routine surgery but everything that was supposed to go right, went so wrong. She was vibrant and healthy before she went in. I saw her yesterday and she was thin, pale, exhausted and had tubes running in and out of her body. Since being in the hospital, she has been the victim of a number of medical mistakes. Simple ones, like the nurse forgetting to unclamp the drip to allow the antibiotic to flow into her vein, and more complex ones, like botching her surgery, causing bleeding and infection. She feels as though she’s up against the entire medical system, as no one seems to be taking her complaints seriously. Her situation made me wonder about how patients can protect themselves.

Firstly, it’s important to request copies of all of your bloodwork and imaging studies – X rays, CT scans, MRIs. Labs now offer online portals where patients can sign in and view their own lab work. Oftentimes, patients rely on a phone call from their doctor to inform them of abnormal values; sometimes these calls are missed. Lab work is not easy to read for the lay person, but it is easy to tell if something is not normal. It will be highlighted or written in a different column from the other results, so it stands out. This also allows you to track your progress over time. Instead of comparing yourself to the reference range which is the same for everyone, you can compare yourself to you.

My friend had a gut feeling when she woke up from surgery that something was not right. She’d had procedures before and had never felt so terrible upon waking up from anesthesia. Her inkling was ignored by medical professionals for three days, until they found out she was right. If you feel that something you are hearing from your doctor does not make sense, seek out a second opinion. Do not worry about offending your doctor. Your health is more important, and I find in health care the old adage “the squeaky wheel gets the oil” is definitely true. Advocate for yourself.

I also think that doctors who avoid answering questions do a disservice to their patients. It’s your body, and your health is the most important asset you have. Some of my patients ask more questions when they are getting their car fixed, than they do at the doctor’s office. Find a family doctor who takes the time to answer questions. Write down your most burning questions so that you can stay organized and use time wisely. If you are going for a procedure you don’t understand, write or record what the doctor is saying to you so that you can go home and review the information. It can be hard to take it all in at the time the doctor is speaking to you.

Utilize services like Best Doctors, a company that finds you second opinions and other physicians to review your case and provide you with advice. If you have a major health decision to make, it can be amazingly helpful to access the best medical specialists from Canada and the U.S. This is especially true if you have a rare condition that a doctor may only see a few times.

Making health decisions you can be confident in does wonders for your peace of mind, and can result in better outcomes.  

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Spirituality

“Tha Bloodcl@t Work.” Let your valuable transformation begin!

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Photo Credit: cottonbro studio

BY AKUA GARCIA

Happy Scorpio season star family. I pray you are well as we transition to another season of cosmic alignment. The days are beginning to get darker; the clocks will fall back ushering shorter days and longer nights. Many people are impacted by the changes surrounding us. The onset of seasonal depression begins as we have a decrease in vitamin D. We are not outdoors moving our bodies as much as we tend to stay indoors a bit more. The cosmos supports this darker time, let’s look deeper into Scorpio season.

Scorpio season begins October 23rd to November 22nd. Scorpio is a water sign, representing the deeper, darker aspects of the divine feminine energy. Governed by both Mars and Pluto, Scorpio is the sign of transformation by way of death and rebirth.  This Scorpio season we have an eclipse on October 28th, making the energy extra potent for transformation. Scorpio looks at our deeper emotions, our feelings that are often repressed under the surface of our smile. Scorpio is a sign of mystery, power, intuition, spirituality, sexuality as well as money. This upcoming eclipse season will call us to reflect on our values as it corresponds with the Scorpio traits. It’s a time of reviewing where we give our power to begin reclaiming.

Scorpio season is also a great season for shadow work. Shadow work is a psychological insight into the darker aspects of our personality. Coined by Carl Jung, renowned psychiatrist, shadow work allows us to explore the darker sides of ourselves.  Our fears, traumatic experiences, the parts of ourselves that we deny, repress or carry shame around, resides in our shadows. However, beneath what we have buried we tend to find our light. When we release all the heavy emotions and experiences of our past, it makes room for all the things we have denied ourselves under the notion of not being lovable or enough.

The eclipse will illuminate our values and self-worth. It is the last eclipse of the Taurus/Scorpio axis that started about a year and a half ago. It is also a full moon eclipse, signaling closure, endings of a cycle. Our traumatic experiences often have us questioning our self-worth. We are often left emotionally scarred, afraid to trust others and most importantly ourselves. Unresolved emotions take a toll on our self-esteem, mental and physical health. The things we repress show up overtime in our triggers.  Each time we are triggered our nervous system remembers how it feels during the time of the original event.  We often react the same way we have been conditioned to; we repress it.

This Scorpio season I encourage you to sit with your darker side of your personality.  Our personality is formed by our personal reality.  We have to get real with ourselves and tell ourselves the whole truth. It’s ok to hurt, it’s ok not to be ok, but to deny your emotions, how you truly feel is a form of self-denial. Our triggers are gateways to our glimmers of more light and love. Our shadows are mostly childhood fears that continue to manifest in different ways as we grow older. They impact our relationship with ourselves and show up in triggering forms in our relationships with others.

Scorpio season helps face our shadows and take our power back. We can no longer hide, play small, or allow shame to keep us hostage in the past. This is the nature of the work that I do. I use Shadow work astrology to help the collective: unpack their own shadows, face their fears and reclaim their lives on their terms.

I have assisted over 100 people in overcoming traumatic childhood experiences.  Some of my clients were at the point of not wanting to live anymore to now leading wholesome, healthy, aligned lives. We can tell a new story and live a new life, but we must be willing to venture into our darkness to reclaim our light. I call my work “Tha Bloodcl@t Work.” I recognize traveling through our inner darkness is no easy feat, but to be able to reclaim our light, our power, our love for self, is priceless.

This Scorpio season comes with the eclipse and Halloween, don’t let your fears continue to spook you out of your blessings.  Use the support of the cosmos to call your power back.  Let your valuable transformation begin!

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Spirituality

This eclipse season i challenge you to tell a new story

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Photo by Sebastian Voortman

BY AKUA GARCIA

Happy Libra season cosmic family!  I pray you are all well, falling back into balance with the fall energy. Nature provides us with a beautiful masterpiece as the leaves change colours then begin to fall away.  As the saying goes “Fall is about to show us how beautiful it can be to let go.”

However, I have noticed change and letting go are very difficult for some to do.  Our minds tend to hold on to stories, narratives from the past that might have once comforted or protected us. Holding onto these stories over time, we begin to internalize then identify with these narratives. To release the story, can almost feel like releasing the parts of ourselves that have comforted and protected us. However, holding on to these stories can keep us stuck in our past, blocking the blessings of the present and recreating a memorized future. We must ask ourselves if we are truly committed to our growth or are we comfortable reliving our past experiences that we perceive as safe. This eclipse season I challenge you to tell a new story.

Eclipse season happens twice a year. Our last eclipse series was back in April/May of this year. Mars was the ruling planet as the eclipses took place in the signs of Aries and Scorpio respectively. These eclipses highlighted the themes of self-identity, looking at our interior motives, desires, and ambitions.  It also brought to the surface the areas of intimacy we may struggle with, especially in our: spirituality, sexuality, and finances.

The past eclipse phase gave us a six-month assignment to dive deeper into these themes in correlation to how they impact how we see ourselves in relation to these themes. These themes are extremely personal. This is where we often carry secrets and shame that lead us to hide who we truly are. The shame is often a result of others projecting their fears and issues with shame onto others. Internalizing these fears creates a blockage to expressing who we truly are. We must ask ourselves how much of our personal power are we giving away to others based on their projected fears? How does this impact how you perceive yourself?

Now that we are coming to an end of this six-month assignment, Libra season is asking us to balance the scales. Balance the past wisdom with your present reality, balancing what serves us and what we need to let go, balancing our own needs versus that of others, it’s time to fall back in alignment with the most authentic expression of you.

The first eclipse happening October 14th, is in the sign of Libra, the final eclipse for the year will be October 28th, in the sign of Taurus, both signs ruled by Venus. For the next six months we will be tasked with telling a new story about who we are. Now that life has aligned us to confront these hidden, fear/shame ridden parts of ourselves, how do we bring value to our journey that leads us to begin to embody this new story of who we are. Venus is the planet of love, beauty, values, partnership, and material possessions. It speaks to what we attract, the value we place on ourselves including our resources.

The eclipse in Libra is calling us to recreate a new story by reclaiming our journey that brought us here. Timelines from the past may present themselves during this transit for us to perhaps take a new perspective using the wisdom we have gained from past experiences. We are no longer the older versions of ourselves, we have new insight, we have overcome so much.  We have new tools to reclaim the wisdom of our past, and to also re-create a new way forward that aligns with who we are now and meets our needs to sustain where we are heading. We may struggle with change, but on the other side is a fresh start, a beautiful unfolding to a new beginning.

Eclipses tend to be viewed as emotional resets, spiritual clean slates. To start clean, we will have to clean up then let go. Just like the leaves of autumn, the eclipse season is about to show us just how beautiful it can be to let things go.

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Spirituality

Fall is about to show us how beautiful letting go can be

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Photo by Matt

BY AKUA GARCIA

Happy fall season star family!  We have officially said goodbye to summer, hope it was good to you. Now that we have switched seasons, we may notice our energy levels also fluctuating during this time as we realign to what the season brings.

Fall also brings with it the onset of Libra season. Libra is the sign symbolized by the scales, reminding us that life is a balancing act. The first day of fall we experience an equal amount of sunlight and darkness. We often strive for equality when trying to balance things in our lives, however I have found balance is more about harmony rather than equality.

Libra is ruled by the planet Venus, the planet: of love, values and resources.  Libra is the sign of relationships, partnerships and justice. It calls us to look within the dynamics of our relationships. With Venus highlighting our values, just leaving retrograde, we may feel more inclined to review the value base in our current relationships. We can often step into relationships based on aesthetics, or physical attraction. Libra also fancies aesthetics and beauty, however when the aesthetics change or fade away, we will be left with what really keeps the relationship together.

Building a value-based foundation for our relationships is key for building strong relationships. Our values tell us what we prioritize, they help us direct our energy, time and resources. When our values do not align, it makes it extremely difficult to balance how we show up in our relationships.

Life is relational. From the moment we are born, we are in contact with someone else. We learn a lot about values in childhood from our parents, caregivers, teachers, peers and environment. As we get older, we hold onto the values that resonate the most with us, then begin to internalize these values as our own. Venus was retrograde, calling us to review the intentions behind our relationships.  As we have entered this fall season, we may need to let go, or let old value systems fall away that no longer serve us.

We might have grown up in a home where expressing our emotions wasn’t valued as much as hard work. We may find now in our current relationship dynamics we may not know how to advocate for our emotional needs, instead work harder at proving our value to others. This dynamic will lead down a spiral of people pleasing, often feeling unfulfilled. Coming back to what we truly value for ourselves, then working to express and embody said values will help attract others with those similar values.

When we are working with similar values in our personal relationships, or business partnerships, it allows us to build a foundation that everyone can prioritize. Having similar values cultivates a space for emotional safety making way for everyone to show up as their full authentic selves. It is only in authentic connections we can ensure we have the capacity to not just meet and serve our needs, but those of the ones we value and love.

This fall season I challenge you to review the intentions of your relationships. Our relationships start with ourselves, how we love ourselves, how we value ourselves is going to directly show up, impacting our relationships. Are there any beliefs, fears, patterns, value systems that you need to let fall away in order to restore balance and harmony in your relationships? Are you looking outside of yourself for emotional validation of your needs? How can you begin to express and embody your values?

The trees don’t worry about the leaves that are falling away, they know they have served their purpose. The leaves transform in colour and expression, then fall away to nurture and sustain the tree. In this transformation season of fall, let go of the anxiety of letting go; know that what falls away is going to sustain your transformation to make room for the relationships that truly value you. Fall is about to show us how beautiful letting go can be.

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