Thursday, July 24, 2008

Hashem Set that up Years Ago!

In a United States convention of neurologists from all over the world, one of the main topics was the phenomenon of people fainting upon getting up from bed.

One of the speakers was Professor Linda McMaron of Great Britain and she gave a lengthy speech regarding her study on this issue. She elaborated that after many years of study and investigation on this subject, she came to the conclusion that the fainting is caused by the sharp transfer between laying down and standing up.

Professor McMaron said that it takes 12 seconds for the blood to flow from the feet to the brain. But when a person quickly stands up upon waking up, the blood gets 'thrown' to the brain too quickly and the result is fainting. She suggested that each person, even one that does not have a tendency to faint, upon waking up should sit on the bed, and count slowly till 12 to avoid dizziness, weakness, and/or fainting.

Her speech was rewarded with loud applause and enthusiastic feedbacks.

Another Professor, a Jewish religious man, asked permission to speak.

He said: "By us, the Jews, there is an old tradition, thousands of years old, to say a prayer of thanks to the Creator of the World for meriting us to wake up healthy and whole. The prayer is said immediately upon waking up, while one is still on the bed and sitting down. There are 12 words in this prayer and if one regulates himself to say it slowly with concentration, it takes exactly 12 seconds to says it... 12 words in 12 seconds.

He said the prayer slowly in Hebrew:
Mode Ani Lefanecha Melech Chai VeKayam, Shehechezarta Bi Nishmati Bechemla Raba Emunatecha
“I thank Thee, O living and eternal King, because Thou hast graciously restored my soul to me; great is Thy faithfulness.”

The auditorium burst into a standing applause that roared throughout the auditorium. This time, it was for the Creator of the World.

42 comments:

JOE said...

The gemara in Brochos (I think) states that one shouldn't get up from bed right away, but should wait a few seconds before getting up.

Anonymous said...

nice post...funny that you mention this... this happened to me a few times, I would get up and faint back to my bed... my dr said it was normal and I should just take it slow...
taking things slow is not something I'm good at :)!

Anonymous said...

awesome!!

Anonymous said...

Wow. Unbelievable.

Tzvi Meir & Ayala said...

that is wonderful.thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

hi there.
i'm a long time reader and a first time commenter. i'm also another cancer survivor. i was just reading over your last few posts, and i pased your don't judge me poem. that kinda made me wanna tell you what i think.
i had i brain tumour. it was a pretty big, messy affair. i went through alot of chemo, radiology, and surgery. b"h it's behind me now. my hair has grown back, i can almost fit into normal size clothing, and food actually DOES appeal to me. but my life did not have the fairy tale ending yours did. the tumour did some major irreversible damage. if i ever end up getting married, i will probably never be able to have children. i look at your life and dream that one day that could be me.
i read your blog, and later your book and thought, "wow, it might happen to me!" yes, by the sound of it you may have had it easier than me. i didn't have that 98% survival rate, to pull me through. i had pessimistic doctors and even worse statistics to look at. but cancer is cancer. and chemo is chemo. and however hard i try, i'll NEVER be able to understand even a fraction of what you went through, let alone judge you.
i hope you understand what i've been getting at so far, cuz i just read over what i wrote, and totally makes no sense.
so basically, what i've bee trying to say in the midst of all my lomdus, is that however "easy" or "hard" the cancer is, it's ALWAYS impossible.
your book gives hope to all us kids out there who haven't made it yet to the point you have, that one day, some day, things can change and get better.
but more importantly, it give as something to dream about, when all our dreams were dashed.
so everytime some stupid idiot out there judges you, think of all the kids like me whose lives you've changed just that little bit.

Anonymous said...

Actually, it is less than 500 years old - it is not brought down in Shulchan Aruch at all. - It appears to be a shortening of the sentiment in Elokai Neshama sans G-ds name in order to allow one to thank G-d before going to the bathroom.

Cute story, nonetheless.

J.A.P. said...

Wow Scarred Survivor- thank you.

I just want you to know that I have some close friends who have been told they had severe lasting damage and no chances of ever leading a normal life, and they have pulled through anyway.

There is one patient I know who just called up her doctor to tell him that she was having a baby after he wrote her off forever, and I know another one who is walking after being told he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

The fairy tale ending is waiting for all of us- you might not end up with the ending your wishing for right now, but in a while when you look back and realize that you got to a great place in your life because of what you have been through, you will know what I mean.

Hatzlacha rabba with everything, and thank you for commenting!

Freeda said...

pretty neat! where'd u hear about this?

חינה said...

It could be a very nice story if it is true. There is no British neurologist by the name of Linda McMaron and therefore she could not lecture in any conference in the US.

J.A.P. said...

For those commentors finding fault and untruths with this post- I apologize- I did not verify this story. It was an email sent to me and I liked it so much that I posted it.

I don't think it matters whether or not the details are 100% correct, I think the message is what counts.

STOP NITPICKING! Just read and enjoy- or don't, that's your perogative.

Anonymous said...

To the "Scarred Survivor"

Hi, I'm Michal from Tzipi's book.
When I read your post, I was like, hey that sounded like me!
For real, my stats were non-existent, plenty top doctors gave up on me etc. Fertility? 0% across the board, everyone agreed.

Guess what?
I'm married (yes, to another survivor :0), and pregnant, b'h.

I'm not saying this as a ha-ha in your face type of thing. Just that everyone's yeshua comes, it really does.

Someone once told me - "Hashem is not in our world, we are in His." That gave me such a cool insight - that I don't have to ask Him for x,y, and z to work out in my world... rather, I am just a pawn in his world, aiming to make a kiddush hashem in whatever way His Hand directs my life.

I wish you all the best, club member!

Michal

Anonymous said...

thanks michal.
being part of this club is starting to feel kinda good.

Anonymous said...

Michal, I don't mean to attack you or anything, but saying that your drs said you had 0 chance of having children and you are preg now isn't poss...
It's not that I don't believe in miracles, It's OPEN miracles that go against nature that don't happen- if someone is blind and doesn't have eyes to say that they can have their fairytale and a fairy will come and give them sight...
I have a friend who had ovarian cancer and had her ovaries removed (and couldn't freeze eggs bec. too young...) and there are those who tell her that she should have bitachon and she shouldn't say it's imposs...

J.A.P. said...

Anon, I dunno what you're getting at but 0% chance does not have to mean that a woman does not have ovaries. There are so many other reasons that a dr. can give someone a 0% chance and for a person to beat it IS an open miracle- even if everything is in place.

A person may have eyes that are so severely damaged that they have a 0% chance of ever seeing again- what if they DO end up recovering? Is that not an open miracle? Or do you say then that it is just a small miracle that's easy to believe in becuase it could not be possible that it was a 0% chance that he would never see because he already had eyes?

Would it make you feel better if Michal had said that her dr told her she had .001% chance? Would that make it eaiser of a miracle to accept than her saying she had a 0%? Get real.

What I can't understand is why people are so quick to find fault and bother with the stuff that don't matter when they could be happy for each other and wishing them all the best and b'shaah tova...

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, just because a doctor says there is zero chance of having children does not mean that is true. There are new types of treatment that are constantly being created for people dealing with infertility. Maybe at the time the doctors told her this there was no treatment available but now there is. Or maybe it is truly a miracle. You never know unless you know the full story.

Scarred Survivor, the organization Atime just started a support group for girls like you with known infertility. I know the group has been helpful to all the girls who joined...

Anonymous said...

I see that you don't understand what I'm saying there is something called a miracle and there is a point when you aren't even meant to pray because you don't pray for the 100% impossible. If someone doesn't have ovaries... no treatments will give her biological children. And yes jacp there is a diff between .001 and ZERO... in order to live life normaly you can't go wishing for the imposs my friend is very realistic and gets annoyed when ppl tell her that she should wait for her miracle, she accepted what g-d threw at her and knows it's for her best and she's working with the package she got, not waiting for her fairy to come change it.

Anonymous said...

Michal: 0 percent? or .001?
it's a big difference...
and good for you that you're married...try convincing mother's of eligible young men that...

J.A.P. said...

Nope Anonymous. There is never a time to stop davening. There is a time to stop wishing for something that cannot happen but we can never stop praying for Hashem to make it right.

Moshe rabeinu davened to go into eretz yisrael 500 times even thought Hashem said it wasn't happening. Chachamim say that one more tefillah might have changed that. I think that when Hashem says no thats kind of the same as when your friend has no ovaries.

No one is saying she should expect the impossible, but we can all pray for a miracle. And to each and every one of us a miracle means something ompletely different. Maybe for Michal a miracle meant beating the odds more than once but for your friend it will be to find a way to adopt and raise a family one day.

There is never a reason to stop hoping for a miracle. Just have to accept that for each of us a miracle means something else.

No one waits for a fairy to come change anything- we PRAY for G-D to do that. And fine, I'll tell Michal to re-post and write that she had a .001% chance. Hope you feel better.

J.A.P. said...

Leah, Michal said 0%- that's the percent she was given. I was the one who said .001% to deal with the people who can't stand to be politically incorrect.

Anonymous said...

ok... I see there's not much of a point in trying to argue with idealistic people, idealism doesn't work for me or my friend. Even when ppl tell her that she can adopt a family and have her fairytale, she points out that she has her options open and who said she's interested in having children, maybe she wants to focus on a career and go a diff direction in life. For some reason ppl are bothered by that, they want her to have THEIR idealism, not her realism.

Anonymous said...

man alive.
sorry michal...

J.A.P. said...

Okay anon- if your friend wants a different course in life why didn't you say so from the get go? What you think is idealism in the case of your friend may be realism for others. Like I said before, everyone has their own miracles, their own story to tell, and you can't have an ending if you never gave a proper beginning.

I wish your friend all the best and it's awesome that she can take what Hashem gave her and make the best of it. That's a miracle in my eyes. I wish everyone out there could be that b'simcha and believe that everything is for the best.

Anonymous said...

JACP: As a child, preteen and young teenager that wasn't the course of life she imagened for herself, she grew up in bais yaakov circles where that's what the focus of life is. When she found out she had ovarian cancer, she had to reevaluate everything that she was taught and see where she wants to head in life, actually she hasn't decided yet. She wants to keep options open, she wants to get married and decide then if they should adopt or dedicate her life to something else.
My comments weren't made to attack anyone, they were made to bring out another angle of looking at things, an angle that ppl have a really hard time understanding.
that there is such a thing as imposs and it's not healthy to try to imagen otherwise and that accepting reality doesn't mean you need to do what everyone expexts you to do (adopt...)

J.A.P. said...

Anon I understand.

Michal should tell you this herself but because she's not here I'll speak for her.

Michal never either imagined a life like that. She thought she was going to get married and have kids and wheel a double stroller down Ave J one day.

So when she was told 0% it hurt her as much as it hurts your friend. And yes- everyone expected her to adopt too. And she hated hearing that. She knew that by marrying her husband (another 0%) that there was no possible way, but since her ovaries were not taken out like your friends were, she still hoped there was a chance something might happen.

She didn't expect miracles and was more shocked than anyone to find out she was pregnant. She did not base her dreams in a false reality and it's great that your friend isn't either.

Everyone has to come to terms with their lot in life but trust and hope for the best. If your friend is doing that- something will work out on her end for the best- it may not be what she had always envisioned for her life, but it's what Hashem sees in her bigger picture.

I still disagree with you. NOTHING is impossible. Impossible for me and for you, but never for Hashem. It's not His way to do outright miracles, but they can be done. Don't pray for them if you don't want to, but hey, krias yam suf happened. Yeah, I know people like us don't get mattan torah every day, but let's not pretend this stuff never happened. NOTHING is impossible.

Still a little idealistic for you, I know. I know you weren't trying to attack anyone, but there's another thing we survivors (and those that don't make it) learn early on. It doesnt pay to focus on our miseries as much as it pays to be happy for each other when things go right. We don't shove anyone's ideas away as "idealistic" and we don't mock someone's harsh reality when it's all they have.

Thanks for posting and sorry if we all got defensive.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, JAP. This post is so beautiful and the comments so inspirational.

Anonymous said...

(BTW, This post sure took an interesting twist...)
Should people who are going through hard situations be told that one day everything will be "all better"?
We know that whatever Hashem ultimately chooses is the BEST... but, (as JAP pointed out) we ourselves don't know what's good for us.
How could people assure others that their "fairy-tale ending" will come?
Perhaps the true "fairy-tale ending" in store for them will take avoda to accept? We daven for Hashem to give us "chasodim tovim"- that WE see as good.
Life isn't fairy-tales for many...
Here's hoping that it will be!

Anonymous said...

to whoever keeps saying that 0% means 0%... Hashem was the one who created us and our bodies. Hashem is capable of giving someone children even if there doctors say 0%. your friend had a diffrent kind of illness then michal if i am correct, and so her 0% is a clear cut one. I wish her much hatzlacha in the future with whatever she decides to do in life, but one must NEVER stop having emunah in Hashem and beleiving (no matter how hard) that everything is for the best and Hashem knows what He's doing. we're not just some toys or a game Hashem decided to play with. if your friend wasn't destined to raise a family, and instead leave her mark on the world in a diffrent way then thats what was cut out for her, but 0% doesnt always mean 0% so... to scared survivor... never give up your emunah that Hashem can give you children (and adopting a child is a BIG mitzvah too. these children have no parents to care for them, and taking one in and loving him/her is really a big chessed) and to anon, doctors do know a lot, but not everything, and definitly not as much as HaKadosh Baruch Hu! Have a good night.

Anonymous said...

To stop confusing ppl I'll be posting as KC. It sounds like most of you understand my point. nowadays we don't pray for a miracle that there is no poss of happening acording to nature. We do pray for things that hsve hardly a chance, but there is a chance .001
if someones hand is amputated we don't pray for it to grow back. We do pray until the last min that things should change and it shouldn't need to be amputated.
It's not against bitachon for someone without ovaries to not pray that they should have kids, they AREN'T meant to pray for that.

I'm not talking about a sitch like scarred survivor's where there is a chance and IY"H everything will work out because it could work out.

I'm sorry if I hurt anyone.
JAP your blog and book are fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Doctors are working on something called Stem Cell Research right now. They say that in a couple of years they will be able to create an egg without an ovary.
So for anyone out there who thinks that it's impossible to have biological children without ovaries, in a few years it might not be... So yes we should keep davening...

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh.
It's Michal again. I just came home. Looks like I missed a lot!

It's so not my type of thing to do, but just to clarify, I'll get pretty personal.

Yes, Tzipi was right. I was told 0%. And they meant it. I have half of a damaged ovary and had radiation to the peritoneal area for 8 weeks. Ask anyone and they'll tell you that's 100% sterility.

Like Tzipi said, I did not think I'd end up married at 19 and eventually pregnant. I planned on being single forever.

But life IS all about miracles.
Whichever Anonymous poster said that open miracles against nature don't happen, it's not true. They do. I promise.

Someone told me that if I were to write my own book like Tzipi did, I should call it Miracle Life. The nes that I'm pregnant is not alone with the nissim in my "book."

If anyone has a need to email me for any reason, email Tzipi and she'll give you my address.

Anonymous said...

hey, i'm a sitch?!

J.A.P. said...

Survivor too- there is something better than stem cell research today- it's called Cord Blood.

Stem cells are controversial because they involve using the embryos of babies that were aborted or whatever. The details are way too long and technical for me to get into on a blog. Search it online.

Cord Blood are the same undefined cells that can be used for anything- just like stem cells. They are undefined so they can adapt to do any purpose when they are put to work.

Cord Blood is the blood found in the umbilical cord right after birth. A doctor can preserve that blood for any time in the future that C"V someone might need an amount of special cells that are hard to get- like a bone marrow transplant or like you said, maybe even one day an ovary.

I tried saving my cord blood after my baby was born but banks that store it don't take blood from survivors as a precaution. But in case someone ever does need cord blood and doesnt have some stored- there are banks that store for the public- Dor Yeshurim is big in this. They started this a few years ago and have helped a lot of people.

They are still studying all the benefits of cord blood, but it is becoming a huge thing. Google it- it's amazing what's out there.

One day, there might be hope for things we never thought possible.

Tali said...

im just a kid out here whos trying to understand the adult world, but the thing is this whole thing just looks so sad over here! i mean someone comes for chizuk, and another person gives it, yet all thats being done is disproving the chizuk? im confused. i just think that if you find something wrong with what michals saying, then dont say it on here! im just a kid again and so correct me if im wrong with what im saying :) have a good day everybody :)

Anonymous said...

I researched Cord Blood but I'm still not sure if I understand it. How does somebody else's cord blood help somebody who is infertile have their own biological kids? With stem cell they will be able to create an egg out of a person's own cells therefore the baby born would be biological.

Anonymous said...

Michal... wow! I still need to point out that you had an ovary and they were obiously producing healthy eggs...
She doesn't have that.
About stem cell research, as jap mentioned they are made by destruction of an embryo, and you need to be able to create the embryo first.

Anonymous said...

Ok, people, I don't mean to be rude or defensive in any way.

KC, it doesn't matter that I have half of one damaged ovary. It is still the same nes. I don't know how familiar you are with cancer treatments, but radiation is a major cause of sterility.

Also, that whole argument if I had 0% or .001% chance of fertility - clearly, you must be in a different world.
As Tzipi pointed out, it seems like it's only the cancer patients and survivors that are truly happy for eachother's yeshuos. Why does it seem like people who were not sick are always on the critical end, trying to find the one with the "least chance..."
If, for example, I were to still be single, and I were to hear that Anonymous's friend got married and pregnant, and she had the world's statistics against her, I would be happy for her. It's all one big club. We are happy for others when they get their good news. Honestly.

You don't have to get all defensive on your friend's behalf. I'm sure that if she would be reading the posted comments here herself, she would be happy and not nitpick and say "Well, I'm the winner because I have no ovaries and Michal has half of one."
Please.

I'm sorry, I know you don't mean to attack me or anyone else here, but you can't understand what it's like to hear someone who has never been through this undermine what I went through. I know you love your friend and feel for her strongly or else you would not be posting, but don't forget, your friend is not the only one who has suffered, and it isn't fair to play her trump on us when we have been through a lot too.

I don't wish to reopen this discussion again, just wanted to post with my say because I wasn't here yesterday.

I feel that I can't express everything I want to in this little comment box anyway. Feel free to email me. JAP will give you the info if you email her.

J.A.P. said...

KC, I'm nor sure, but I think that with Cord Blood they are trying to one day get to a point where they actually recreate body parts - like regrow an ovary or something. They would get cord blood that is a match with her blood and then use some of her cells to direct the cord blood in what to become. I am no scientist so I anything I say is sketchy and part imagination, but from what I read that's what they aim to do one day.

Anonymous said...

Michal, I'm sorry. You misunderstood me. I'm sooooo happy for you, I'm really happy when I hear stories like yours and Japs that have that fairytale ending... I'm truly happy for you and your yeshuos. Even though I'm not a cancer survivor.

Anonymous said...

Hi! First let me congratulate "Tzipi" on your new book- Its awesome!!
About the ATIME group survivor mentioned. We at a time set up a group for singles with known fertility issues before marriage. We have phone conferences every second week and we hope to have a support group starting in the near future. Anyone out there with a known fertility issue- if you are already married or still single, email us at singles@atime.org and we can sdmit you to the group, help you with shidduchim and wuth any medical questions you have.

About the stem cell, cord blood thingee- The big difference between them is that at cord blood the dna of the child is not the same as the recipient, while from stem cell it could. Another option thats on the horizon is oocyte nuclear transfer- they transfer the dna of the recipient into a donor egg. The child will have the same dna as the parents. Accordign to my research the dna transfer is probably going to be ont he market quicker than the other two. The big problem with all three of them is that ethical groups really dont want them passed into a legal form of medicine.
Good Luck to all of ya'!

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I got that in an e-mail so many times recently, it sounds really good, the fact that everyone is spreading it so fast shows something. Shows people really do have Emunah and they want to believe that everything Hashem tells them to do is for their benefit so when they see the good that comes out of it they feel their belief is justified so they want to spread it. That's a great thing. But I was wondering if maybe it shows something lacking at the same time, that people need these reminders.

Juggling Frogs said...

I read this post and shared with a few people.

Then I read further, and saw that it might not be true. So I considered sending a "nevermind" retraction.

But then, I read further in the comments. The most inspiring part of this post isn't in the post. It's the way you've dealt with the comments and negativity: with patience, optimism, passion, and strength of purpose.

Everyone with Internet access has forwarded something inspiring that has turned out to be an urban legend.

While the original story might be exaggerated or faulty, the authenticity of your attitude and gracious good will overflows with authenticity.

Thank you.