Happy Holidays Mom and Ezine Staff/Readers!
Thanks, Shana, same to you!!!
I’m not really sure where to begin with my reports.
Do you need a minute to think about it? A week? Maybe two weeks?
Mom! I know what I’m gonna say!
Oh. Well that’s different. Never mind!
I’m going to report on the Bee Gees!
Oh, the Bee Gees! Because apparently there can’t be too many reports on the Bee Gees in a homeopathic journal!
I’m reporting on the documentary we saw two nights ago on HBO’s streaming service.
Ohhhhh….. streaming service………..
It was fabulous and everyone should try to watch it! Here’s the trailer:
It’s entitled “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (after the song of the same name) and features a new interview with Barry Gibb from 2019, never before seen footage and so on. There’s a TV special from the “Spirits Having Flown” era that I wish would be released for fans to buy on DVD. The clip of Barry in the studio doing the “explosion” sound on “Tragedy” is on youtube, though, see below:
So, it was well done and sad when you think about the fact that there is no more group. At the end Barry said he would’ve traded all the hits just to have his brothers back. That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.
Wahhhh!!!!!!
Also, Andy Gibb was apparently supposed to join his superstar brothers as an official Bee Gee the year that he died.
Wahhhh!!!!!
Can you imagine what an amazing line up that would’ve been? (Mom, stop crying!) I mean, people always think of the Bee Gees as just Maurice, Barry and Robin.
But Andy was a Gibb brother too.
So it makes sense he would’ve been invited into the group, and of course there was nothing wrong with him flying solo either.
Andy’s hits were pretty much Bee Gees songs as far as I was concerned! I couldn’t tell the difference!
Well, didn’t Barry write them and produce them? And didn’t the Bee Gees sing background? All four wrote “Shadow Dancing”, and there’s a song or two Barry and Andy wrote together (“Time is Time”, “Love is Thicker Than Water”…) Oh and The Bee Gees wrote “Desire” for him.
Shana, I think you may have over-explained again! But, my point exactly! Plus which, he sounds just like Barry!
That’s because Barry always said that Andy was his twin. And P.S., they don’t call me “Shanapedia” for nothing!
Let’s give our readers a sample. Here’s Andy singing, “Don’t Throw It All Away Our Love, Our Love”
Mom! It’s “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away”!
Geez! Well excuse me, Miss Pedia!
Oh and I do have one death to announce that Charlie Horner mentioned in his newsletter. John Wray, the bass of The Earls, best known for their Doo-Wop classic, “Remember Then”, died.
All this time I had no idea he was the one singing on “Remember Then”.
He’s the one going, “Re-mem-mem, remem-muh-member, Re-mem-mem….” click below, you’ll see what I mean (John is pictured top/center above):
Another member of the Earls is dead also, but he died years ago.
There’s another death in Doo-Wop that you missed. Bobby Ferrante, tenor of The Mystics, died. He was 84.
Bobby’s on the left. Their big hit was “Hushabye”. That was the first record I ever bought!
You keep saying that!
Oh, and I just remembered, Shana! Richie Allen died! He was the Phillies first black superstar, he won Rookie Of The Year in 1964:
What most people don’t know about Richie Allen is that he also had a record!
“Echoes Of November”:
Who’s in the Quiz this month?
Remember Marge of Green Gables?
Yes.
Well, it’s Marge of Green Gables!
What happened to her?
She all of a sudden went blind in one eye!
Why? How did it happen?
She was on the phone with her husband.
Oh. Well I guess that explains it.
So, without further ado, I give you, after a long absence … Marge of Green Gables!
______________________________
Hi Elaine, I had to be on the phone for 5 hours with the insurance company on Tuesday!
And my guess is that you spent the first 4 hours on hold!
Right you Are !!!! I had to discuss my health plan. Then again on Wednesday, I was on the phone with them for 3 hours! I didn’t have breakfast until dinner! What a nightmare! On top of which, on Tuesday, after being a nervous wreck going over health care plans with my husband over the phone, my right eye suddenly got a spot in my central vision that spread to my whole eye … I could see nothing! I took a dose of ___________. Thank God it worked!
Good prescribing, Marge.
Vision came back.
You gotta love homeopathy!
Well, that’s it. Take care!
Yours truly,
Marge
Green Gables, New York
______________________
OK, everybody, what do you think the remedy is? If you think you know, write to me at [email protected]. The answer will be in our January 2021 issue of “Homeopathy For Everyone”!
I don’t get to say this very often, but, see you next year!
Mom, you say it every year!
——————————————
Votes
Plumbum
Gelsemium-2
Ignatia-2
Nux vomica
Aconite-3
Hello Elaine, I’d say Plumbum:
vision; SCOTOMA; central (7)
eyes; PARALYSIS; nerves; optic nerve, amaurosis (165)
mind; ANXIETY; agg., ailments from (327)
Peace,
Dale
Hi Dale, it’s so nice to meet you! You seem to know a lot about medicine and homeopathy!
Now, first of all, we’re going to cheat a little—I hope you don’t mind. What’s the likelihood that a patient (who might possibly have a 36-remedy First Aid Kit, if we’re lucky) has Plumbum? Not very likely! (Frankly, I’m surprised that I have Plumbum!) Secondly, what’s the likelihood that a rubric with 327 remedies in it, or 165 remedies in it, is going to help us narrow down our remedy choice? Not very likely! The only rubric you used with a manageable number of remedies in it was “Scotoma”, which we actually have no information for (scotoma being loss of vision usually due to nerve damage, as in MS, which is why Plumbum is listed there). Thirdly, do we know that Marge has paralysis of the optic nerve? I don’t think we know that. We don’t appear to have any diagnosis at all. And fourthly, did you notice that Marge went right for the remedy without even thinking? She did no research, no repertorizing, just took the remedy, like it was obvious what it was. This suggests it’s probably one of our common first-aid remedies.
It appears that we may have some sort of hysterical blindness brought on by stress and agitation. We also know that it came on suddenly. What are our two main remedies for “sudden onset”? Aconite and Belladonna. Of the two, which one has the reputation for being “the Arnica of the Eye”? The answer is: Aconite! And Aconite is in Bold under “Vision: blindness”.
So, thanks, Dale, for voting and I hope we see you back here again soon!
Oh look, it’s the gang from Slovakia!!!!!
Hello Elaine and Shana,
Hello Miroslav and Jitka!
We hope it’s not too late to wish you both all the best in the new year 2021.
No, it’s never too late for well-wishes.
We are sending our solutions to your last quiz of the last year:
Ok, I can’t wait to see!
Miroslav votes – Ignatia
Since I was not attracted to anything in the rubric: Sight, blindness…
Really? But there’s almost 250 remedies in that rubric! And you weren’t attracted to any of them?
I would use the rubric Mind, anger, disease : Ignatia
I don’t even have that rubric. And I’m not even sure what it means. Are you trying to say she has “Ailments from anger”? But with over 100 remedies in that rubric, and a lot of them in bold, can we solve the case with that rubric alone? I don’t think so.
Jitka votes – Gelsemium
Although this quiz was very short, it was very difficult for me, (but when is it not?) Especially as I could not imagine the situation!
Marge told me the insurance company was experiencing a lot of trouble with their computer system. Still, it does sound completely implausible.
Here, no official would speak with me for 5 + 3 hours on the phone. At most, she would instruct me about a list of dozens of documents and confirmations which I have to send them. Another thing I didn’t quite understand was why she had a problem with her eye and not her head or ear when she used the phone for so long. I wondered if she was using a video call, so she would strain her eyes.
She didn’t say what kind of phone she was using, but, I’m thinking Marge was using a land-line; though I can’t be sure.
If anyone’s straining their eyes, then Ruta could help. When checking the materia medica, I found information that sudden blindness could be Gelsemium, but other sources state that sudden blindness in Gelsemium is before migraine. Ultimately, I found a small rubric: Sight, blindness, hysteria. So “with my little soul”, I’m voting for Gelsemium
OK, well, both Ignatia and Gelsemium are good guesses. But, you know, when somebody says that a symptom came on suddenly, what remedies should that make us think of right away?
OK, we are using this second chance to answer. Since you have highlighted for us the main point of the case (the symptoms came on suddenly), we both are correcting our answers to Aconitum.
You’re right!!!!!
Hi Elaine,
My Take is Nux Vomica.
Thanks for keeping us in the loop and making us learn.
Profound regards,
Mohammad
Hi Mohammad, Nux v. is a good guess; after all, Marge was under a lot of stress when all this happened! “Ailments from Stress” often means that Nux vomica is the right remedy. However, it wasn’t this time. Here’s what I see as the elements of the case:
- Blindness
- Sudden Onset
When you hear the words “sudden onset” or “suddenly” or “came on suddenly”, there are 2 remedies that should pop into your mind right away. Do you know what they are?
Thank you Elaine. OK, Suddenness remedies could be Aconite or Phosphorus.
Actually, Phosphorus is only a 1 in that rubric. There are 2 remedies in BOLD for that and they are: Aconite and Belladonna. In Murphy’s Repertory, 3rd ed., the rubric is: Clinical: diseases, sudden manifestations.
Is it Phosphorus?
No. Do you know what remedy has a reputation for being “The Arnica of the Eye”? It’s Aconite. So, yes, that was the remedy.
Hi Elaine and Shana and happy new year!
Hi Maria! Same to you!!!
For this month’s quiz my first thought when I read it was Gelsemium.
Amaurosis or blindness.
Ailments from anticipation or bad news (couldn’t find other etiology rubric).
I don’t think you can call this “ailments from bad news”. Bad news is a shock. There was no emotional shock here, just frustration, probably hunger and low blood sugar too (I would guess) from not eating. So, just remember, there’s not always a usable etiology, something you can really hang your hat on.
The sudden onset puzzled me and I thought of Aconite
As well you should!
But then, in the rubric Vision/Blindness/sudden I saw that gelsemium is in 1st grade.
In amaurosis (vision loss or weakness that occurs without an apparent lesion affecting the eye) Gelsemium is a 3.
I don’t have a rubric, “Vision: amaurosis”.
Murphy writes in Nature’s Materia Medica that Gelsemium has blind spells.
True, when there are visual disturbances, Gelsemium is often the remedy. But you know what Gelsemium doesn’t have? Sudden onset! And where is “Sudden Onset” in the “Hierarchy of Symptoms”? It’s right near the top! Remember? See “Repertory Round-up Part 4” again to see the all-important Hierarchy of Symptoms:
I don’t know maybe it’s Aconite after all, but I will vote for Gelsemium.
It is a paralytic remedy and amaurosis is an optic nerve paralysis.
But we don’t know if that’s what she has. All we know is Blindness and Sudden Onset.
If I am wrong I will try again!
You’re wrong, so try again!
Great quiz! I would go for Aconite.
That’s it!
Oh look! Lori’s here again!
Hi Elaine,
Hi, Lori!
Hope you had a wonderful holiday!!
I hope so too!
I went on vacation to see my family in Chicago and so I’m just replying now to your quiz, “sudden loss of vision”.
While I was gone, I found out my women’s dorm/residence is closing their doors after 123 years of offering affordable New York City housing to women from all over the world.
Oh wow.
Not sure where I am moving to at this moment, but all my homeopathic books are now boxed up and ready to go…well somewhere. So I’m really just going to take a hard guess with this quiz…could it be Ignatia Amara that helped this woman see again? I know it has an affinity for helping with nervous and excitable temperaments and day to day stresses and grief, but I think it works best for throat, GI issues…so I may be wayyy off.
Ignatia is a good guess because one could surmise that she has “ailments from emotional distress”; but, it’s not the remedy she used.
Oh, maybe it’s lycopodium?
No, not that either.
I think I need something for increased mental acuity!!
Well, maybe a nap? But, as for the quiz, I think the key word here in solving this case is “sudden”. She said the blindness came on “suddenly”. Did you read my article “Repertory Round-Up, part 4” about the Hierarchy of Symptoms?
“Sudden Onset” is right near the top of the Hierarchy! There are 2 remedies famous for that—Aconite and Belladonna. What that means is, all the other symptoms in the case that fall below “Sudden Onset” are irrelevant!!!!! All you have to do is decide which of these two remedies covers the case best!
I don’t really see it being Belladonna. Belladonna is rather frantic, their symptoms are urgent! When a child has a Belladonna illness, the mother will be in a panic to do something about it fast because the case will seem intense. There might be screaming, crying. Here is a Belladonna case, click below:
In fact, this case of sudden blindness was an Aconite case. Aconite is also in BOLD under “Vision: blindness”.
Hey everybody, Vamsi’s in the house!!!!!
Dear Elaine,
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 to You and Shana..
Hope you had a great start!
Thanks, Vamsi, same to you!
Ok, the First ever quiz for this Year ..
Sudden Loss of Vision.
This is what I feel. The lady was on the phone for a lot of time and went starving till night. The loss of Vision was all of Sudden. Even the quiz says so…
Suddenness illness prompts me for ACONITE.
Yes, you got it! You’re right! The word “sudden” was the most important word in the case!
I also remember you saying in one of your Quizzes that ACONITE is Arnica of the Eye.
OMG! You remembered! Well, Vamsi, you’ve got a gold star this month for sure!
There must have been a sudden stoppage of Blood supply to the eye, and sudden loss of vision and ACONITE restored it.
Not sure of the right answer….but would not leave out answering the quiz!
Elaine, please let me know your views….
I just did, you totally nailed it!!!!!
Cheers
Vamsi.
I think we have time for one more contestant.
Hi, Elaine; because of the suddenness and the anxiety , my answer is “ACONITE”
You are absolutely right! Yes, the word “sudden” was the most important word in the case! From 3,000 remedies, we’re down to 2, just by knowing that the complaint came on suddenly!!!!!
Dr KETAN SINGH
Oh, hold on, we can’t leave yet, Wayne just flew in from Australia!
Wayne doesn’t waste any words! It appears he knew that this was a case of “sudden onset”, meaning we were down to 2 remedies: Aconite and Belladonna!
***
OK, everybody, Wayne, Vamsi and Dr. Ketan Singh are our big winners to start out the new year! Congratulations!
And thanks to all who voted and be sure to try again with this month’s exciting quiz! See you in February!
Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom
Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
