http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php Copyright 2012, Allan Hamilton Allan Hamilton en-US SPHPBLOG 0.5.1 http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081126-091349 Let’s be fair about the origins of Thanksgiving. No Native American is likely to look upon this holiday as a moment of ethnic celebration. The historical truth is that when the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower first landed on the Eastern coastline of America, they came ashore at a small place near present-day Truro on the shore of Cape Cod, called Corn Hill. Here, the sick and half-starved Pilgrims staggered up the dunes. They came upon an empty Native American village. It was surrounded by a series of mounds. Some of these were full of reserves of corn (hence the name) that the indigenous villagers had set aside as their winter stores. Other mounds were burial sites. And what was the first act of our Pilgrim forefathers? They pulled out their shovels and set to digging up the corn and desecrating and looting the gravesites.
Not a bad opening act: steal someone else’s emergency food supplies and despoil the scared ground of their ancestors. The Pilgrims made their way along the coastline, looting and stealing from Native American villages and their inhabitants as they went. It was becoming a new way of life. Naturally, the abused and insulted Native Americans gradually became more hostile. Eventually, the Pilgrims moved along the coast from Cape Cod and made it to Plymouth where they made their immortalized landfall near the famous rock. It seemed like a good spot because the Nausets, the local tribe in the region, now thoroughly enraged by the Pilgrims and their thievery, seemed to be singularly absent from this area of coastline.
The settlement at Plymouth did not fare well. Half of the Pilgrims who had survived the sixty-six day voyage across the ocean perished from starvation, scurvy, tuberculosis, and infection. The rest only survived because the Native Americans took pity on these hapless survivors and brought sorely needed meats, vegetables, and fruits to them. Without their help, probably all of the Plymouth colony would have perished before spring.
We celebrate this singular, compassionate gift of food as Thanksgiving. But we must also remember that, implicit in this festivity, is not only gratitude but also the shame of our treatment of the indigenous peoples of America. Early on, under George Washington, a day was set aside for giving thanks. In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November for the observation of Thanksgiving. In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt changed the designated day to the fourth Thursday in the November. Two years later Congress voted to make it an official national holiday. All this history gets packaged in myth and topped off with a stuffed turkey. In 1934, NFL football games were officially added to the tradition. Now, the day after Thanksgiving also triggers the most frenetic buying spree of the year—or so stock market and retail analysts hope. So it is an odd circuitous route that has led us to this holiday called Thanksgiving.
However odd and twisted its roots may be, Thanksgiving has now become a day devoted to thanks and prayer. To thoughts of caring for others less fortunate than ourselves. To taking stock of just how lucky we are to live in this country. To be aware of the most important gifts we have: our loved ones and our health. This year, there are a many who are not in good shape. Some have lost their homes and their jobs. Their businesses have failed. Their factories have closed. Natural calamities such as floods, hurricanes, and wild fires have obliterated their homes. We pray for them. We pray that their families and their fellow citizens can help them through the bitter winter ahead. We hope that assistance will arrive to help sustain their “colonies” just like the gifts from the Native Americans did for the forefathers. We think of the families who yearn for the safe return of a loved one overseas in our military. We know there is only one gift they seek and we beseech God they will receive it. We pray for ourselves because the more fortunate amongst us should not forget to display gratitude and humility.
Thanksgiving is also a pleasurable celebration because no one has to go out looking for a gift for anyone (other than bringing a pumpkin pie or preparing a plate of smashed sweet potatoes with little crisp marshmallows on top–neither of which the Native Americans brought to the first Pilgrim first-aid feast). It’s expected that families will draw together and let bygones be bygones and past transgressions be forgiven. After three helpings of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and all the fixings, it’s time to pull up the lounge chair, let our belts out a notch, and catch a game. And remember the warped beginnings of the Pilgrims have led us to a holiday dedicated to the spirit of thanks. Not a bad ending—except, perhaps, for a lot of turkeys, who must refer to this day as Black Thursday. It certainly expresses the human potential to transform a bad beginning into a beautiful ending.

Read more about the historical accounts of the first Thanksgiving:

The History Channel - “The History of Thanksgiving”

The Christian Science Monitor - “The First Thanksgiving”

Other Thoughts on Giving Thanks:

USA Today - Your Health: Giving thanks can make you healthier, happier By Kim Painter, USA TODAY

…….and for when you are out shopping on Black Friday, remember these tips, Finding Joy in Gridlock Traffic by Karen Krakower found in Health Leader


********
Please remember to change your RSS fee to the new and improved blog site at http://allanhamilton.com/wordpress/]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081126-091349 Allan Hamilton Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:13:49 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081119-105238
When we encounter someone who has just lost a pet dog or cat (or other significant animal), remember they may have lost a beloved member of the family, a close and dear friend. That pet may have been the only family they had. And that person is experiencing genuine pain and grief. We need to summon that same empathy and respect for their grief that we would whenever a loved one has passed away. We can’t just brush it off and say: “Oh, it was just an animal.” No, a beloved pet is far more that just an animal.

A friend of mine once said: “Dogs are God’s unconditional love wrapped up in fur.” That struck a chord with me. Pets don’t care if you’re rich or poor, Christian or agnostic, beautiful or ugly. They simply care that you are there. And when you are, their joy, their contentment to see you, to greet you is boundless. Imagine being able to emulate that sheer contentment at being reunited. One woman, in the midst of a contentious divorce, confided in her lawyer: “I wish my husband could love me the way my dog does.”

Sometimes, I see a dog on the street cuddled up next to a homeless person and think to myself: Good. At least that person has a canine angel to accompany him or her through the lonely, dangerous, and saddening journey of living on the street. The dog never thinks of abandoning that owner, no matter how bitter the life it must lead. Wherever that person goes, a loving soul will always accompany them. Like God’s unconditional love.

So here’s my plea: Next time you hear of someone whose dog has been badly injured or ill, treat it just as you would if a close human relative were in danger. Be supportive. Ask what you can do to help. Losing a pet may be one of life’s difficult experiences. Often it is a child’s first encounter with the finality of death. Sometimes that pet may have been a disabled person’s closest aide. Sometimes it’s an elderly shut-in’s last companion and friend.

There have been plenty of human beings I have encountered in my life whom I did not like, but not a single animal. People who lose a pet feel a gaping hole in their life. Help to mend it by respecting how profoundly they loved that animal. Acknowledge and support their grief as you would if you heard about any other significant emotional loss.
P.S. Rosie and Shadow, I miss you every day.

Here are some things you can do for someone who has lost their beloved animal:

Send a sympathy card to one who has lost a pet.

Connect them with support:
Pet Loss Support Hotline at UC Davis Center for Companion Animal Health -- "The compassionate people who staff the Pet Loss Support Hotline understand the emotional attachment people can form with animals of any kind."

Pet Loss Support Hotline at Cornel University College of Veterinary Medicine -- "The hotline is staffed by volunteer veterinary students who have undergone extensive training with professional grief counselors."


Post a Tribute
Several websites offer the opportunity to write a tribute to a beloved pet:
Pet Tributes Page of Chance’s Spot Pet Loss and Support Resources

Memorial Markers
Consider honoring the loss with a stone memorial:
Say it in Stone
4EverInMyHeart


Don't Forget

The new RSS Feed address for Dr. Hamilton's blog is http://allanhamilton.com/wordpress/?feed=rss2
Be sure to change your feed today, as this blog spot will be discontinued shortly.]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081119-105238 Allan Hamilton Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:52:38 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081118-130209 www.allanhamilton.com/wordpress/

If you subscribe to an RSS feed of Dr. Hamilton's Blog, be sure to change your feed link.

Thanks,
Kris, Webmaster]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081118-130209 Allan Hamilton Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:02:09 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081110-090118 Michael Crichton, the legendary author and Hollywood producer, died last week. His death shocked everyone. He was a relatively young man at age 66, and was taken by cancer.

I knew Dr. Crichton because he had graduated from Harvard Medical School several years before I started there. When I was a first year medical student, he was already a famous author with both the Andromeda Strain (about a viral plague that devastates humanity) and Terminal Man (about the impact of deep brain implants on psychosurgery). He had been invited as a guest to a writer’s symposium where he, along with Robin Cook (the author of Coma and also a Harvard physician), would speak to the largely medical audience.

I had always been interested in writing and was intrigued by a doctor who walked away from his career as a physician to pursue full-time writing. I had been deeply affected by Terminal Man, as I already knew that I wanted to be a neurosurgeon. I was drawn to the implications that operations on the brain could produce profound alterations in a patient’s personality and behavior. Dr. Crichton was an imposingly tall man, nearly 6 feet 6 inches tall. I was scared to death to go meet him. But he saw a copy of Terminal Man in my hands, waved me over, and graciously signed it.

At that point, I could not resist asking him if he ever missed not being able to take care of patients. He said: “In some ways, it is regrettable but, in others, inevitable because I think they are many physicians who could practice medicine better than I ever could but very few of them who are able write about Medicine the way I do, trying to see to what ends—good and evil--new discoveries and techniques of Medicine can be put.”

He was right. He made a far greater contribution to our culture’s understanding of what can occur when the limits of science cross the borders of morality. The topics he covered in his books and films covered the gamut, from stem cell research to the global threats of new viral mutations. From DNA transfer to the development of language in primates. From time travel to terrorism. From environmental catastrophe to the dangers of manipulating brain function.

Dr. Crichton’s genius and creativity will be sorely missed. His writing and his ideas will stand as a challenge to all of us who aspire to translate some of the pathos and ethos of the world of medicine into the written word.

Read More:
Visit the Michael Crichton web site

Wired Magazine Essay by Michael Crichton, "Mediasaurus"
“I want to focus on another dinosaur, one that may be on the road to extinction. I am referring to the American media. And I use the term extinction literally. To my mind, it is likely that what we now understand as the mass media will be gone within ten years. Vanished, without a trace.”

ZDNet -- America loses its moral technologist: Michael Crichton

]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081110-090118 Allan Hamilton Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:01:18 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081106-085054
Now more than forty six million Americans are without health care coverage. And these numbers were tabulated before the Great Recession of 2008 hit. How many more, in the current financial crisis, will give up healthcare coverage to keep food on the table or a roof over their heads?
America aspires to greatness, but has fallen short while so many among us are left behind. Lives have been ruined when families must choose between bankruptcy and medical attention.

Our country is rapidly turning into a two-tier society—those who can afford health care and those who can’t. It is as if we’ve grown comfortable, as a nation, to have a third world colony in the midst of a first world country. We’ve grown complacent allowing a group of our countrymen and women to become second-class citizens in our midst, denied basic, fundamental healthcare. We have deprived them of the first and most fundamental of human rights: the right to life.

Sure, the costs of healthcare are rising. The US spends the most money on healthcare of any country in the world. Yet our country is ranked, according to the World Health Organization, thirty-eighth in the world for quality. That means we can look to thirty-seven other countries for ways to make our healthcare more efficient and higher quality. It’s time to look. And look hard. We need to correct this fundamental flaw in our country. We need to do what’s right. Yes, it will be a bureaucratic nightmare to administer such a system. So will bailing out the banks. Yes, it will expensive. But letting families go uncovered, letting disease go untreated, and prevention go unaddressed also carries a cost—not just financial. A moral one, too.

For more reading:
Almanac of Policy Issues: Universal Health Care Coverage

The Washington Post: Universal Health Coverage Attracts New Support - Onetime Foes Become Unlikely Advocates, Citing Rising Costs and Tougher Access

MedScape from WebMD Census Bureau: Number of U.S. Uninsured Rises to 47 Million Americans are Uninsured: Almost 5 Percent Increase Since 2005

Everyday Citizen Health Coverage: Why Are People Uninsured?

CBS News: Diagnosing The Health Care Debate

Stand Up for Health Care Uninsured Americans


]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081106-085054 Allan Hamilton Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:50:54 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081103-115759
Every patient with a serious health issue deserves to have a panel of expert sub-specialists. It’s like having a case debated in front of a jury. All the arguments are put forward. The evidence is looked at from every angle. Every doubt must be raised. Every conclusion questioned.

So what should a patient or family do? Gather up the basics of your file. All the notes and tests from your doctor. Have the Radiology Department make a copy of all your pertinent scans and x-rays on a CD-Rom. Get on the Internet. Find the best physicians, surgeons, and hospitals in the country. The best docs are listed every year in “Best Doctors in America.” Local or regional magazines publish a special issue featuring the chosen doctors each year. (There are higher advertising revenues from medical practitioners for that issue). Likewise, look up the nation’s Top One Hundred Hospitals released every year by U.S. News and World Reports. Look for the hospital listed that is in your vicinity. Then look up the appropriate specialties.

Say you have a breast cancer. Find the best cancer center. The best oncologist. The best radiation therapist. The best breast surgeon. Call their offices. Let them know you’re sending your case in for a review. Make a real connection to someone in the office. Remember it’s the “little folks” who really run the world. The secretaries, receptionists, and the patient care technicians. Every one of them—any one of them--can hold the key. Treat them as the most important people in your life because they may well be. Put your entire case onto a single CD-ROM. Package it up. Say a prayer and ship it out. Then follow up. Call in a few days. E-mail. Send faxes. Just pursue. It’s your life, or that of someone you love, that may be on the line.

American’s health plans should encourage you to seek the ultimate second opinion, the one you deserve.

More Resources for Finding the Best:

Thomson Rueters Top Hospitals

Castle Connolly Medical “America’s Top Doctors” listing top doctors and hospitals in the country

Women’s Health Magazine America's Top Doctors For Women
See our list of the top M.D.s in the country... in the specialties most crucial to you.

Men’s Health magazine America's Top Doctors for Men

National Cancer Institute
How To Find a Doctor or Treatment Facility If You Have Cancer
]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081103-115759 Allan Hamilton Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:57:59 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081103-092731
10. There are no genes like no genes. Cancer is a disease caused by
mutated genes that allow cells to grow in a disorganized and invasive way.
To the extent that the tumor can be removed, reduced, or resected, you get
the cells out of your body that harbor the mutation. Biologically, the more
tumor cells out of the body, the farther down you are on the path to a cure
or remission.

9. Never be dissuaded from alternative therapies. Under what circumstances
could you possibly be more motivated to seek every adjunctive therapy
available? Sure, you need to use common sense in sorting through all the
therapies touted on the Internet. But many of them are proven to help, and
many others offer substantial symptomatic relief. Some are as useless as
snake oil. Always tell your doctor what alternative therapies you are
considering to ensure that it will not interfere or cross-react with other
medications.

8. Find another cancer patient. Cancer patients cannot share everything
they need to with “civilians”—folks who have never been through the
cancer experience. I am moved to tears when I see the depth of the bond
between cancer patients, despite different ages, diagnoses, and prognoses.
It’s an exclusive club with only one membership requirement: you must
have experienced cancer yourself.

7. Insurance companies don’t like to pay. Insurance companies often take
the attitude that cancer care is so intensive and expensive that they need
to say “no” to every request. They don’t really want to consider the
merits of new chemotherapy regimens or alternative therapies. Remember, the
squeaky wheel gets the grease. Become a burr under the saddle. Share your
experience with other patients. Blog. Chat. Escalate the volume of your
protest by appealing to the state authority for insurance oversight. Write
letters to local hospital administrators and cancer center directors. Bring
that pot to a boil. Insurance companies worry about bad publicity more than
bad care. Put them in the spotlight until they do the right thing.

6. Phase I, II, and III research trials mean something. People tend to
think that whatever is newest, most experimental, is best. It’s not. Just
the opposite. A Phase I trial is one where the research team sets out to
escalate the doses of an experimental medication to see what makes the
patient sick. There’s no need to prove the intervention is effective. The
goal is to find out how toxic it may be. Phase II is a trial where the
researchers are trying to find out if the therapy might work and what doses
work best. That’s definitely a step up. Phase III is where you want to
be. That’s when the therapy being tested is so effective, it is going
head-to-head with other known effective therapies to see which is better.
That’s when you know the chemotherapy or technique being used is already
proven to be effective.

5. Bald can be beautiful. There are worse things than having your hair
fall out (although it is upsetting when the process unfolds). Again,
connecting with other cancer patients is critical to answering questions
and concerns. Some patients take the attitude of “bald and proud.”
They’re saying: “This is who I am—it’s your issue, not mine.”
Others prefer to wear wigs or scarves. The wigs being produced today are
excellent, and are constructed with real hair. They meet the needs of
most patients. I have been stumped trying to figure out whether it’s the
patient’s real hair or a wig. Many cancer support centers throughout the
country provide free wigs to borrow and wig washing parties. So, one way
or the other, don’t sweat the bald head.

4. Help your kids and family understand. Many cancer patients shy away
from telling their children and family members precisely what is going on.
Don’t fool yourself: if they know you well enough, they know. Kids
especially. They know when something is wrong. The unknown is far scarier
to deal with than the known. Not broaching the topic often gives the
impression that the subject is taboo. Help your people understand what you
are going through.

3. Cancer changes priorities. Staring at a potentially lethal disease
changes your values. Things that were important to you (and still are to
others) now seem superfluous. Cancer patients have been through the fire.
They appreciate honesty, sincerity, and directness. They do not suffer
fools and liars. Often, confronting cancer is a life-transforming event, and
other people around you cannot keep up with you.

2. Selfish is not always bad. When you’re facing cancer, you’ve got to
pace yourself. You’ve got to conserve your resources for what matters.
Sometimes family members, friends, and co-workers suddenly see your
behavior as more self-centered, less focused on them. That’s the way you
should be. You need every ounce of energy you have to beat your cancer.
So maybe, in the midst of chemo, you can’t be the soccer coach. You need
to rally your strength and sometimes that means, plain and simple,
there’s not much to go around for others.

1. There’s more to life than cancer. Once you get that diagnosis, it can
seem like that is all anyone wants to talk about. It’s as if your
identity has gotten completely hijacked by your diagnosis. Remind folks you
still have a life and interests. You can talk about the Yankees (okay,
maybe not this season). Or go to the book club and actually talk only
about the book. Or lead the working subcommittee without everyone assuming
a new chairperson should be designated in the interim.

Cancer doesn’t necessarily play by the rules. But knowing the rules helps you fight back, recover, and prevail.


The Cancer Information Network with directories of support and services, links, books tools, an oncology dictionary and message boards.

CancerCare is a national nonprofit organization that provides free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved.
Site also available in Spanish.

CancerGuide: Clinical Trials and Experimental Treatments with a wealth of information and strategies for finding , researching and participating in clinical trials.

The Cancer Survival Toolbox is a free, self-learning audio program that has been developed by leading cancer organizations to help people develop important skills to better meet and understand the challenges of their illness

The Lance Armstrong Foundation unites people to fight cancer with a belief that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything.

Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit organization that seeks to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability relative to their diagnosis of life threatening or debilitating diseases.]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081103-092731 Allan Hamilton Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:27:31 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081030-091601
Physicians warn us that stress can have deleterious effects on our health--heart disease, stroke, and a depressed immune function, to name a few. But doctors also know that an upbeat, enthusiastic attitude combined with a good support system, will give patients a higher likelihood of a good outcome. Depression, loneliness, and dejection can all set the stage for complications.

Every doctor has taken care of a terminally ill patient who has said something like: “I need to hang on until Christmas, so I can say goodbye to my whole family.” Recently, a woman in our hospital lay dying from an overwhelming infection. She told us she had to hang on until her son returned home from his tour in Iraq. These patients often achieve their goals. They keep themselves alive until they attain closure, on their own terms, before departing this life. But how?

If medical science is correct, diseases are simply biological processes. They represent mechanistic systems, predictable growth patterns and foregone conclusions. Yet physicians often bear witness to emotional and spiritual beliefs overriding the physical processes. A person’s determination can change the outcome of illness. No one argues with the validity of these everyday occurrences. And yet, the healthcare industry still maintains that discussions about feelings and emotional support are “touchy feely” topics, best left to the social workers or the pastors, and that they have no validity within mainstream medicine.

Voodoo has been studied extensively as an example of how negative emotions can destroy health. Walter B. Cannon, Harvard physiologist, traveled around Africa and the Caribbean studying voodoo deaths. He found that perfectly healthy young men and women died in a matter of two or three days if they were convinced a curse had been placed on them—provided they believed in voodoo. Medicine has no problem accepting the notion that our beliefs and emotions can kill us. Why is it so difficult to believe that our feelings can cure us too?

Remember in Peter Pan when Tinkerbelle has been poisoned and is dying? Peter asks the audience members if they believe in fairies, and to clap loudly if they do. In response, the audience roars and claps as loudly as possible. Tinkerbelle’s little life flickers and then begins to shine brightly again as she recovers. If there had been only doctors out in those seats, old Tink’ would have died.

May the Force be with you, then—even if your doctor does not believe it to be so.

For more reading:

American Journal of Public Health, Voices from the Past
"VOODOO" Death by Walter Bradford Cannon, MA, MD

Pew Research Center Publications, Who Do That Voodoo at Harvard? by Richard Morin

Wookiepedia, the Star Wars Wiki "May the Force be with you."

Reiki and Cancer "May The Force Be With You...Always"
By Stewart Ivory

Stress and Your Health


]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081030-091601 Allan Hamilton Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:16:01 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081027-100852
At the Democratic National Convention (DNC), we saw a resilient, energetic Senator Ted Kennedy exhorting his fellow Democrats to look to the common good, to remember the struggle of those Americans who cannot afford healthcare. It was all the more moving because the audience knew the Senator was undergoing treatment for a malignant brain tumor. Everyone felt his enthusiasm and energy, though it certainly must have been exhausting for him to travel from Boston. He was determined to push his own health issues to the background. He wanted to be in Denver, to speak out for what was important. His self-sacrifice made his pleas all the more poignant and heartfelt.

The day of the first Presidential debate, Senator Kennedy suffered a seizure. Once he was treated, however, he refused to stay in the hospital. He asked to be discharged so he could focus on the debate. His dedication to party and values was heightened by his desire to overcome brain cancer.

Another brain tumor patient also comes to mind: Lee Atwater. Mr. Atwater was a young, brash, Republican consultant who basically invented the dirty tricks that have become the hallmark of the American political scene. He began his infamous career in 1978, when he was hired by then Republican candidate Carroll Campbell Jr. Mr. Campbell was running for the congressional seat held by Max Heller. Mr. Heller was a Jewish Holocaust survivor. Atwater targeted Heller in the traditionally conservative, Christian district in South Carolina by running ads that claimed Mr. Heller did not believe in God. Heller lost.

Atwater rose quickly as the “hired gun” of the Republican Party, eventually working on the presidential campaign of George H. W. Bush. His anti-Dukakis campaign highlighted the release of convicted murderer, Willie Horton, on a weekend pass. It implied that Governor Michael Dukakis was so liberal that he approved letting murderers out on the street to endanger society. Dukakis didn’t stand a chance.

While Atwater helped to get George Bush (the father) elected President, he also had a chance to groom a new protégé—the equally venomous Karl Rove. Rove made his name using more dirty tricks to help elect George Bush (the son). Atwater’s legacy was to change the political landscape forever, for the worse. In Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman wrote, “He saw that character assassination invades media like an airborne virus—that even a lie can become its own ‘truth’.” Perhaps, that would have been the end of Atwater.

However, in 1990 Lee Atwater was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. It dramatically changed his life and his values. The last months of his life were devoted to systematically apologizing to individuals whom he had opposed in various political contests. In February 1991, Mr. Atwater wrote in Life magazine: “My illness helped me to see that what was missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart, a lot of brotherhood…It took a deadly illness for me to see eye to eye with the truth, but it is a truth that this country, caught in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don’t know who will lead us…but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society.” It was a remarkable attempt to make amends, to repent.

So we are faced with two men, from opposite parties, both with malignant brain tumors. The pressing issues of mortality in their personal lives led one to morality, the other to offer guidance and wisdom to America. Their important messages include not only what is good for themselves but also for the welfare of their brothers and sisters, their fellow citizens.

1. Owen Gielberman, “Boogie Man,” Entertainment Weekly, No. 1013, September 26, 2008, p. 73


For Further Reading:
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwwater Story

List of notable brain tumor patients

Huffington, Ariana. The Jeffords Affair. Salon.com, May 31, 2001
“……the two most powerful graduates of the Atwater School of Hardball Politics, President Bush and his advisor Karl Rove (Class of '88), have regrettably and dramatically missed the final -- and most important -- lesson of their teacher's life.”


What Lee Atwater learned and the lesson for his protégés, Washington Post, April 16, 1991, Page A19

I'm Still Lee Atwater, Washington Post

Ted Kennedy Senate homepage

Complete text and audio of Ted Kennedy's 1980 DNC Speach

New York Times - Edward Kennedy collected news and commentary.]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081027-100852 Allan Hamilton Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:08:52 GMT http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081022-084014 East West Bookshop (look it up…amazing bookstore, 6500 Roosevelt Way NE), a gentleman came up to me. He was a physician, which is a rarity at my talks. Most doctors are uncomfortable attending a presentation meant to open up a dialogue about the role of spirituality when patients confront severe illness or major surgery. But this man waited until all the book signing was over, and all the other audience members were gone. He had something on his mind.

He told me how spirituality had transformed his life. He had been married for over twenty years and deeply in love with his wife when she was stricken with cancer. Despite all of his knowledge of medicine, and connections with all the best doctors in the Seattle area, there was nothing he could do to slow the progression of his wife’s disease. He watched helplessly as his soul mate died.

After his wife was gone, he became so depressed he could not even get up to go to work. After months as a recluse, shut off from friends and family, he made up his mind that life was not worth living. He prepared to commit suicide. He sat down to write a last letter to his family. The first few lines described his inconsolable grief. He felt a need to lie down on his bed to think about how to phrase what he needed to say to help his family understand his decision.

Suddenly, he fell into a deep sleep. He started to dream. He dreamt about wandering around in a desolate, inhospitable landscape. For hours, he felt lost and sure he would perish. But eventually he came along a small footpath. Not knowing where else to go, he followed it. It eventually led to a small glade of trees. A spring bubbled up in the middle of a cool, shaded enclosure of pine trees. Next to the pool sat his wife. As soon as she saw him, she jumped up and kissed him. She led him to the spring, and told him to sit down on the cool rocks. She stroked his hair back out of his eyes a few times, told him how much she loved him and how terrible it was to see him in such turmoil and despair. She reassured him that she was now blissfully happy, and she rejoiced that one day they would be reunited —but not now. She emphasized that this was not his time to go, and that to commit suicide now would be wrong. There was much more for him to fulfill in this life. Furthermore, there would soon be new love coming into his life. They would have children (something his first wife could not have); he was to become a father! There were still thousands of patients in the years ahead that would need him. She kissed him, and floated away.

In the morning, when he awoke, he saw the piece of paper where he had started to pen his suicide note. He picked it up, crumpled it, and threw it away. Underneath it was another sheet of paper in his wife’s handwriting. It said: “Hi honey, I had to go. But I’ll be back. Love you.” He assumed it must have been a note she had written long ago. She must have been going out to do a few chores, and somehow the message must have gotten stuck back in the pile of note paper. He began to wonder what a coincidence that it came to lie right under the sheet of paper where he had been writing his suicide note. What a sense of relief he felt to know his wife was alright in the next life and that he might find love and joy again in being alive. Then he introduced me to his current wife and showed me a picture of their lovely twin boys.

I asked him if he ever wondered if somehow his wife’s note had been written the very night he thought about killing himself. He shrugged and smiled. “It has crossed my mind,” he said, “about a thousand times.”


Explore dreams of departed loved ones with these resources:

Why the Dead Want Our Attention
Real-life psychic Echo Bodine talks about messages from the dead in TV's 'Medium,' the film 'White Noise,' and her own life.


Discovery Health Sleep and Dreams
Visions of the Departed
By Vince Rause

You Can Talk to the Dead
Date: 2007-10-22 By: Melanie Harris Llewellyn Journal, New Words of Mind and Spirit



]]> http://www.allanhamilton.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry081022-084014 Allan Hamilton Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:40:14 GMT