Does anybody remember last month’s quiz?  Here it is again just to refresh your memory:

Well, Elaine, how was your Christmas of 2006?

Oh, don’t ask!  It was a disaster, Kelly! I woke up to the news that the Godfather had died!

Oh my God! Vito Corleone is dead?

No, Kelly, not that Godfather, the Godfather of Soul! James Brown!

And that ruined your Christmas?

Hello!  Do you know who James Brown is????  I cried and cried!  James Brown embodies the entire meaning of life!

He is? He does?

Kelly, he glides across the stage as if  he were on ice skates!  You look at him and say, “How does he do that?”   They call him “The Hardest Working Man In Show Business” and if you ever saw him–as I did, at the Apollo Theater in 1965–you would know why!

My jaw dropped to the ground when he first walked out on stage–or maybe I gasped, I’m pretty sure I gasped–because the electricity, his aura, reached all the way to the back row of the balcony where I was lucky enough to get a seat, and the excitement just never stopped; it was all about the unexpected with him–you never knew what he was going to do or what was going to happen next; because, for example, he would suddenly fall to the floor, catching the mike on his way down, which he would have kicked over, and then jerked back with the mic cord, only after spinning completely around and then he’d land seamlessly on his knees with a rim shot on the drums to punctuate what he had just done, and you’d be like, Whoa! What just happened here,  because it would all happen so fast!  In fact, he obviously had instructed the drummer to emphasize every sudden turn of the head he did with a rim shot. And then somehow, he’d get from one end of the stage to the other without touching the floor!  What can I say?  There’s actually no other performer like him.

There was apparently some famous concert in California in which Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were set to come on after James Brown and Mick Jagger refused to come out of the dressing room! “I’m not going to go out there and make a fool out of myself!” Jagger said. “How do you expect us to follow James Brown?”  And you really do have to wonder what genius was responsible for the line-up being what it was; but, believe it or not, back in those days, in the ’60′s, you couldn’t have a black artist close a show!  I’m serious!  You see, it’s an honor to be the show closer, it means you’re the best act on the show, and to admit that the best act on a show was a black entertainer….well….no one had the nerve to do it; and that meant Mick Jagger had to go on last; and it was so inappropriate that even Mick Jagger knew it and he had to be literally pushed out of his dressing room and on to the stage!

Well, I’ve always wanted to say this and now’s my chance, so, here it goes:

 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The Godfather of Soul, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, Mr. ‘Please Please Please’ himself, Jaaaaaaaaaaaames Brooooooowwwwwn and the Famous Flames!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6z-nG39khQ&feature=related

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Elaine, you’re right, he is unbelievable!

Kelly, you can present your case now.

What? Are you nuts?  Have you completely lost your mind?

Huh?

Do you really expect me to go on after James Brown? Have you completely lost your mind? Do I look stupid? Do you think I’m going to go out there and make a complete fool out of myself? 

Kelly, wait! Come back! You can be the Godperson of Acute Cases! Kelly?!!!! Well, great; that’s just great! OK, fine! I don’t need you! I know sick people too! In fact, I know plenty of sick people; in fact, I’m the Godperson of Knowing Sick People!  Let’s see….there’s the kid who ate butter….no, she’s still sick; how about…Oh! I know!  I’ll get Caralyn!  There’s always someone sick in her family!  Caralyn, can you go on after James Brown?

I’ll try Elaine, but I’m not promising anything! OK, this is the case of my son, ”D”.  D was having terrible obvious stomach bloating. He had stomach burning, throwing up, diarrhea, writhing and moaning in pain. When he went to the bathroom the smell was awful!!!

These stomach episodes would last a long time and come like in a series. We used to blame it on soda, vinegar (as we know D loves vinegar) or overindulging. However D is a good eater. We even took him to the emergency room once thinking he might have appendicitis!

His stomach has been sensitive for a long time. My mother insisted that I make an appointment with a gastroenterologist. I told her that you had given him a remedy _______ and if that didn’t work I would consider it, but D has been fine ever since! The electrical pains were another thing. They occurred alot in school and sometimes at home. I would dismiss the complaint as odd. I did not understand it and didn’t want to make an issue out of it in front of D. He was definitely getting them since the last 8 months to a year.

He was in so much pain from his stomach he would moan and wriggle on the floor. D has zero tolerance for pain, but I know that he was not faking it becasue of the intense vomiting. D also gets hiccups a lot.

This stomach pain has progressively gotten worse. When he was approximately 12 months old he would poop acid. I mean it. D would not eat food at that time. His favorite thing to have was orange juice. The only milk he had at that point in his life was from me nursing him.

Thanks Caralyn for bravely giving us this month’s quiz! If anyone knows what this remedy is, please write to me at LEWRA@aol.com , the answer will be in the February ezine.

OK, this is one show that James Brown gets to close!  Here he is again, folks.  RIP, Godfather of Soul, James Brown:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwbzpU9SRN4&feature=related

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Who got the answer right? This case must have terrified everyone because hardly anybody wrote in! However, when the first two people got the right answer, I thought it was going to be a landslide! But, I guess it was not to be. Three people got the right answer, it was: Veratrum alb.!

Listen, did you know, in Murphy’s repertory, 3rd ed., there is only one remedy listed under:

Stomach: vomiting, diarrhea during, violent and profuse, and it’s Veratrum alb.?

Now, if you look under what I considered to be the Strange, Rare and Peculiar symptoms in the case–desire for vinegar and acid fruits–(Desires sour food)–and the electric pain sensation (Generals: electric, shocks, pain), the remedy is clearly confirmed, being a 3 in both rubrics. So, “D” is fine now, he doesn’t get these horrible episodes anymore; in fact, I was there at Caralyn’s for her Passover seder, and “D” missed the whole thing! I gave him Colocynth because of the writhing around on the floor in pain, it helped maybe 60%, I didn’t know about the electric pains then; as soon as Caralyn told me that, I said, “That’s Veratrum alb!”

So, let’s see who our three big winners are this time: We have Ravi Narayan from beautiful downtown Mumbai, we have S. C. Kursija and finally Lisa who wrote the following:

Hi Elaine,

I am a new subscriber to the newsletter, and also a brand new Homeopathy student (British Institute of Homeopathy). I’ve been using homeopathy for 12 years for my family for all kinds of acute situations only. I love your case examples and they are helping me learn how to use my Materia Medica better. I am going to give my best shot at choosing a remedy for the Jan. quiz. Here goes

I picked VERATRUM ALBUM based on the chronic diarrhea, intense vomiting, hiccups, stomach pain, electrical pains and the fact that he likes fruit juice (at least he did when he was younger and there’s no mention that he doesn’t like it any longer). The one thing that doesn’t fit this remedy is the foul smell as Ver. a. has odorless stools.

Looking forward to reading the Feb. case!!!

Lisa

Lisa, you’re right about the stool being odorless in veratrum, but, you can also find veratrum under Stool: odor, sour and Stool: odor, offensive, even if only as a 1, it’s still there.

So, Dr. B, what have our friends won this time?

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This month’s winners will get a special 30% discount on one order of books from Hpathy Mall.

Click Here for Prize Guidelines

I also request our previous prize winners, Alyona and Sujatha to please write to Dr. B at webmaster@hpathy.com and give him your addresses so he can mail your prizes to you.

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Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

Elaine takes online cases. Visit her website at: hpathy.com/office/ElaineLewis.asp