The Other Side of Healing: Surviving Life Trauma . . . Make the Choice to Survive and Thrive . . . Never Give up . . . Don’t Let Your Light Go Out

By Bonnie Fogler

When life challenges you and you feel hopeless with no way out, do not give up. Whether you are plagued by chronic illness, grief, betrayal, divorce, anger, resentment, or some other equally destructive situation, there are ways to pull yourself up, not only to survive but to thrive. Say goodbye to depression, anger, and resentment, and learn emotional survival techniques that will change your thoughts and actions to work for you and bring happiness into your life. It is amazing to learn that there are techniques to make this happen and that they are not that difficult to do. All you need is hope and determination to move forward out of your life trauma, and follow the outlined steps in the book to start on your healing journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781504394611

Bonnie Fogler

Bonnie Fogler was born and grew up in Newark, NJ. She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Kean University majoring in Psychology and worked in a management position in the insurance industry for many years. She resides in a suburb in NJ with her husband, Joe, and keeps busy with family, friends and activities and attends monthly workshops in life choices and spirituality as well as “on line” courses to keep learning.

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Copyright © 2018 Bonnie Fogler.

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in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any

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ISBN: 978-1-5043-9460-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9462-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-9461-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018900238

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/29/2020

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 My Story

Chapter 2 Body

Chapter 3 Mind

Chapter 4 Spirit

Chapter 5 Today

References

To Joe, my husband,

who supports me in all I do.

INTRODUCTION

I have wanted to write this book for many years. I hope it will become something I was trying to find when I first became ill with what was to become a long list of chronic and autoimmune disorders. There were many symptoms and lab verifications that something was very wrong, but no real treatment, cure, or even a diagnosis of the root cause was available.

At first, I felt disbelief and some anger that, with so much medical knowledge out there, no one could cure me, but I guess my kind of chronic illness was complicated and not taught in medical schools. As time went on, I began to realize there are some conditions that don’t have an easy answer, and I began a quest to find someone or something that could help me. This became a very long journey but a good one, as it turned out, because of all the unexpected things I found along the way about life and the emotional side of healing.

As I was writing about these health and life-recovery items, I began to realize they pertained to many other life challenges and weren’t restricted to illness. They can work for any traumatic event in a person’s life and help restore his or her sense of balance, confidence, and serenity.

My recovery came in three parts. I had to work on my body, mind, and spirit. When I first saw those words, I didn’t understand how they worked or how to apply them, but in my quest for health, I found them one by one and am eternally grateful because they have changed me and my life forever in a very positive way. In this book, I show how each came about and then how they all worked together to improve my health and well-being.

We seem to be born into this world with a body, a soul, and an energy light within. When someone is faced with traumatic events big or small, he or she can dim or turn off that light. People become sad, depressed, heartbroken, bitter, and somber, and feel they can never recover or feel normal again. But the truth is, they can if they choose to. Recovery is really your choice, and there are tools to use. It isn’t always the easiest path, but it’s definitely the best path and so well worth it to feel alive and thrive again. And you can definitely reignite your light and make it shine. In some cases, it will be brighter than it was before because your experience and new knowledge taught you to cope not only with your trauma but also with life in general. Your trauma, tragedy, or disappointment will be there, but you will handle it in a new way.

I also can’t stress enough the importance of a good support system. I was fortunate to have family and friends there for me. My husband, Joe, stuck by me and had to take over all the work of running a house and my care. My two wonderful daughters, Michelle and Kathy, were there for me as well, even though both were caring for their own young children by then. My grandchildren —Ryan, Matthew, Sean, Olivia, and Tyler—made me want to live for so many reasons. Other helpful relatives were my sister, Renita, my late sister Camille, and my son in law Steve. My good friends Sandy, Janet, and Marlene checked up on me by phone and visits all the time, and they even forced me to go out when I could.

I am grateful to all of them. They made a big difference in my recovery.

If you have people around you offering help and support, say yes and let them help you in your recovery.

I’m happy to say that I am well and living a very normal life now. I hope this book, which explains how I came to this point, will help others.

CHAPTER 1

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My Story

Find Your Fire

In July 2009, I was in intensive care at a hospital. I was in a coma and very close to death. I was experiencing liver failure, had sepsis (bacterial blood infection), hepatic encephalopathy (toxins in the blood that reached my brain because my liver wasn’t filtering them), high ammonia count in my blood, pneumonia, and so many things, I can’t remember all of them. My skin was yellow (some said orange), my blood pressure was 70/50, and I needed immediate surgery because I was vomiting blood clots. I also desperately needed a liver transplant to stay alive, but even if there was an available liver, I couldn’t be moved to University Hospital, where they did liver transplants in New Jersey. My family was told I wouldn’t survive the transfer. In fact, I could have easily died right where I was. I was deteriorating at a rapid pace.

So, how did I get to that point?

I entered this world and lived my young life as a very healthy and active