Category — Fibromyalgia

After evaluating several different ideas for kicking off Endometriosis Awareness Month, I decided to go with a simple post to start.

Therefore, I would like to refer readers to a recent post regarding endometriosis advocacy and the media because a number of endometriosis patients banded together, contacted a newspaper that had printed inaccurate information about endometriosis, and it really made a difference.

As explained in more detail in the following post, the newspaper in question printed a letter to the editor which corrected statements made in the original newspaper article (an original article that was, ironically, written by a gynecologist). I truly believe that one factor that may have helped the newspaper decide to print the correction was that the endometriosis awareness petition with nearly 500 signatures on it was sent to the editor of the newspaper. I believe, after many occasions in the past where such letter-writing campaigns were simply ignored by the media, that the petition you see linked from this very post may well have helped make it harder for the paper to dismiss our letters.

If you missed the post (or the two related posts that preceded it, which are linked from this one), here it is:

Endometriosis Advocacy and the Media

If you have already signed the petition to help spread endometriosis awareness and disseminate endometriosis facts in the media, thank you! Perhaps you have family or friends who would be willing to sign it as well?

If you have not yet signed the petition, please take a moment to do so. There is an optional field where you can leave a comment along with with your signature, if you so choose. There are many fields that are strictly optional. For example, if you do not wish to list your city, you may select the N/G or “not given” option for that field. Simply click on any of the royal blue petition logos in this post to sign. Signing the petition is a very quick, easy process.

You don’t even need a pen to sign this petition. If you’re reading this post, you’re just a click away from signing the online petition.

Anyone wishing to support the estimated 89 million women and girls worldwide who have endometriosis may sign this petition. Men and women, young and old… let’s work together to get as many signatures as possible on it.

The petition text reads as follows:

An estimated 89 MILLION women and girls worldwide have endometriosis! “This makes endometriosis more common than AIDS and more common than cancer“, as per Ohio State University Medical Center. (Source: The Ohio State University Medical Center website).

Yet for years it has remained largely “under-the-radar”. The general public has been largely unaware of it – or misunderstands just how very debilitating it can be. When endometriosis IS mentioned in the media, misleading statements may be made (causing confusion for patients and the public).

We have a duty to educate the public about this life-altering illness by spreading factual information… and by recognizing misinformation and taking steps to address that.

Endometriosis can only be diagnosed via a surgical procedure called a laparoscopy.

Endometriosis awareness is vital! It is equally vital that information disseminated about endometriosis be accurate! In spreading myths and misinformation, endometriosis patients are hurt rather than helped.

The purpose of this petition is endometriosis awareness. ANYONE who wishes to sign it may do so. Whether you are male or female, young or old… if you wish to show support for the 89 million women and girls living with endometriosis, we’d be honored if you’d sign this online petition. If you wish to do so, you may include a comment when you sign. Please spread the word about this petition to others!

* Please note that I do not endorse any organizations. Patients are encouraged to do thorough research before supporting any organization claiming to help women and girls who have endometriosis.

Thank you!

Please click above to access the petition.

Won’t you please join those of us who have already signed this petition or ask others to do the same? The more signatures we are able to gather, the better tool the petition becomes when we write in to various media outlets to make them aware of stories that contain inaccuracies. This petition is a tool for spreading endometriosis facts and pointing out endometriosis misinformation.

Since endometriosis has a long history of being portrayed in the media with extreme and persistent inaccuracy, it is vital for patients to speak up when they see such errors. Having a petition like this is very helpful because of the nearly 500 people who have signed it, many have left heart-wrenching comments that any newspaper editor or reporter would have to be touched by in some way.

Let’s keep using this petition the way we did recently with the newspaper mentioned in the link above. By speaking up together, we can make a difference in how endometriosis is portrayed in the media. This is vital for a condition so poorly understood and so riddled with myths and misinformation.

Thank you!

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

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Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

Yesterday, I watched the bipartisan meeting on health reform. The summit was fascinating to me for many reasons but there was a highlight, for me, in the form of remarks made by Rep. Louise Slaughter. She really stood up for women’s health!

Rep. Louise Slaughter

She boldly spoke up for women at the 2/25/2010 health summit

In my mind, her comments can be appreciated by all women and especially any any female patient who has lived with the effects of gender discrimination in relation to medical research (i.e. lack of research on women or lack of investigating illnesses that affect just women) or cost of healthcare that is tied to gender. I won’t even get into a discussion of how common it is for women’s symptoms to be dismissed when similar symptoms would be taken more seriously for males (i.e. heart disease). The point is that Rep. Louise Slaughter stood up for all women and I was just beyond thrilled that she took the opportunity presented by the summit to address these issues.

My thanks to Diana of the Somebody Heal Me blog for posting this video. When I clicked on the link she posted (to the video below), it took me to the Odd Time Signatures site.

Yesterday, I was so thrilled to hear what Rep. Louise Slaughter said that I resolved myself to scour the Internet today to find a video clip of her at yesterday’s summit. Again, Rep. Slaughter wasn’t just speaking up about health reform.

She was speaking up for female patients everywhere and she was shining light on the fact that medical research studies were done almost exclusively on white males up until a startlingly short time ago, relatively speaking. I believe that any patient with an illness that affects women can appreciate the way Rep. Louise Slaughter spoke up for ALL female patients.

As a patient with numerous illnesses that either affect women alone or that affect more women than men, I was absolutely ecstatic to hear Rep. Louise Slaughter articulate what too few people are aware of… and to hear her do so in such a public forum!

There IS gender discrimination not only in the area of medical research but in the very cost of health insurance itself for women vs. men. Before I had even had a chance to locate a video of Rep. Louise Slaughter at yesterday’s summit, I came across a link from Diana that led me to Odd Time Signatures site.

(Video run time 12 minutes and 59 seconds):

Did you miss the summit? I will warn you up front. It’s long. However, you can scroll through the link below and watch parts of it if you choose to. (This video was just a snippet from the summit).

The link below has the summit, in its entirety, broken down into five video parts. You can watch some or all of it at the link below:

Bipartisan Health Care Meeting

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

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Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

Bear with me. I am having trouble keeping up lately. There are many blogs I wish to comment on. I have not yet found the time to do so.

Between writing about endometriosis and the media, health reform, legislation that threatens the rights of infertility patients, and a post about a thirteen year old who suspects she has endometriosis, I have really had my hands full lately keeping up with writing the posts (some of which are time-sensitive) and moderating the comments.

To be clear, the more comments the better. Bring it on!

In case you missed them, here are some of the highlights from the past month…

Endometriosis and the media:

HERE, HERE, and HERE

Health reform:

HERE

Legislation that threatens the rights of infertility patients:

HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE

I also wrote a post about a thirteen year old who suspects she has endometriosis that got lots of feedback from readers extending their support and good wishes to her:

HERE

These are just a few of the posts I have written in the last month. I have been busy writing legislators and signing petitions. Now that I stop and look back at the last few weeks, I can see why I am so tired.

So, basically, I am drained and tired and it’s time to practice what I preach and implement some self-care. In today’s case, that is going to mean taking a nap at some point. It’s not an option at the moment but I am hoping to squeeze in a nap later this afternoon.

Honestly, if I don’t get a nap soon… I will wind up like this woman:

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time I had fallen asleep at the computer. (Not by a long-shot).

So, if you haven’t heard from me lately commenting on your blog or communicating with you on Facebook… it’s because I am having trouble keeping up with everything. I am trying my best but lately it is a struggle. By all means, please do not hesitate to leave blog comments. Your feedback is always very welcome. I just felt that it would be a good idea to let people know that if I am slower than usual responding, it’s just that I am tired. It doesn’t mean that I have forgotten you or that I don’t plan to reciprocate to the lovely comments you’ve left on my blog.

On a brighter note, I went for physical therapy on Friday and acupuncture yesterday and my neck is feeling much better. (Those of you who follow me on Facebook are aware that I had had a herniated disc in my neck a few years back and was having the same pain again). I didn’t drive for about a week because I couldn’t turn my neck and wouldn’t have been able to use the side-view mirror to drive safely. Fortunately, my husband drove me to physical therapy Friday and yesterday I was able to turn my neck well enough to drive myself to acupuncture (45 minutes of driving each way). So, I am very grateful for the improvement with that. I also have good news regarding my sleep apnea but that will be covered in a future post. So, you’ll just have to remain in suspense about my adventures with the CPAP machine.

Now, I am going to plan the rest of my day very carefully so I can fit in a nap later this afternoon. I won’t be sleeping standing up like my feathered friend here. No, I will be taking a nice, comfy nap in bed with my fluffy comforter.

Don’t forget your self-care, everyone. You only get one body and sleep is important. Life is very busy. Try to find some down-time to recover and rejuvenate. Your body will thank you for it!

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

(Photo credit – Getty)

I have written previously regarding healthcare and wanted to take a moment here to post an update on the current situation, for those of you who may not be aware of the status of things at this time.

Rather than re-invent the wheel, I will cite the following post from:

S E N A T U S: Daily Coverage of the United States Senate

See “About Senatus” (taken directly from that site):

Providing daily, non-partisan coverage of the U.S. Senate and the elections which determine its members. This is a private-citizen effort and is in no way affiliated with the federal government.

(Photo credit – Associated Press)

See the following post on the Senatus blog:

Reid Says Reconciliation Likely On Health Reform

According to various news reports, 20 senators have signed so far, calling on Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass the public health insurance option through “reconciliation,” which only needs a simple majority in the Senate. If your Senator is listed as “unknown” on the list below, please consider taking a moment to email or call him/her requesting he/she join the 20 Senators who have already called on Majority Leader Harry Reid, as per above:

Name – ST – Status:

I received the following email on Friday from the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA). So I apologize for the short notice. Please take a moment to read it. The ICA is looking for feedback to take to Congress by midnight tonight. All they need is a short paragraph about the impact interstitial cystitis has had on you. I’m sure some of you reading this have IC. Perhaps you can take just a moment to look at this email? This is a chance to educate Congress about interstitial cystitis. Thank you.

Email from the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA):

The ICA is meeting with your Congressional representatives next week to educate them about the importance of dedicated IC government funding.

Would you like to share your story with your state leader?
Are you willing to write one paragraph about how IC has affected your life and how the ICA helps you?
Congress is eager to hear the experiences of real people. If you are a patient, caregiver, healthcare provider, researcher, or other individual affected by IC, please take a moment to write a short paragraph about your experience.

Let’s see how many stories we can collect by midnight on Sunday, February 7, 2010.

Please join us in advocating on behalf of the millions of people with IC. Email your story to TakingAction@ichelp.org. The sooner the better so we can compile and deliver early next week!

Thanks for your help!

Barbara Gordon, RD
Executive Director

Here is my letter to Congress:

My name is Jeanne and I have interstitial cystitis. My symptoms started in 1992. It took 12 years to be properly diagnosed. After seeing three urologists, all of whom told me I did not have interstitial cystitis, I finally received a correct diagnosis when I had a fourth cystoscopy with hydrodistention performed under anesthesia in 2004. Since then, I have experienced significant improvement in my symptoms thanks to proper treatment of the condition. I have found Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) a helpful source of information on interstitial cystitis. Outside of my physician, Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) is my number one resource for information about interstitial cystitis. So, I am thrilled to hear that representatives from Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) will be meeting with members of Congress to discuss interstitial cystitis. This often misdiagnosed, under-treated, serious illness deserves better understanding, research, and general awareness. Thank you for taking the time to hear from interstitial cystitis patients like me. I appreciate your time.

Jeanne
http://chronichealing.com/

If you have interstitial cystitis, I urge you to write in to the ICA at the above address by midnight tonight so that your voice can be heard by members of Congress. This is a wonderful opportunity to make our voices heard!

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

It is too late. I already am. Late. It seems like I’m late on everything both online and in real life. It is maddening. I feel like I can’t ever catch up. It’s always just a matter of how far behind I am on things.

I won’t bore you with the long list of things I’m late on in my real life. My to-do list has reached nauseating proportions. I’m going to need to take some drastic measures to make significant progress.

As far as online matters are concerned, I’m late moderating comments. I’m late answering Facebook messages. I’m late blogging. (This is my first post since Monday. I don’t usually have gaps like that between posts). I’m really late on responding to email.

So, if you are one of the people wondering why I am so slow responding to a comment or an email… please accept this as my apology. It has been a stressful week.

Why? Why am I so stressed out?

I don’t have any big, dramatic news that explains why I am so stressed out. So, I found myself actually asking, “why am I so stressed out? I concluded that a large number of little things or moderately problematic issues have just culminated into one big pile of stress and that stress is on top of “medical stress” (meaning stress associated with all things medical, a type of stress I’ve had plenty of this week too).

So, I’ve had some significant “medical stress” this week but I can honestly say that this – what prompted this post – is other stress on top of that. Does that make sense? Anyone who is chronically ill knows that medical issues certainly cause plenty of stress. Obviously, the illnesses are probably the biggest stressor I have in general.

(Do me a favor and pretend that is a pile of stress. Oddly, I was unable to find a picture of one. I named this “stresswood”)

So, I think what I’m trying to say is that I am stressed by lots of non-medical issues that have popped up throughout the week on top of “medical stress”.

There are many reasons this week has been a stressful one. I won’t belabor the point with an exhaustive list of the many things that have stressed me out this week.

However, since this is a blog about chronic conditions, I will name the conditions that have been flaring up in some way this past week: fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity, interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, irritable bowel syndrome, endometriosis, and Raynaud’s. I am too tired to hyperlink all of those conditions. So, if you are interested in reading about any of them, check my “categories” or “search this blog” options in the right sidebar… as most of the conditions I have mentioned have been written about on this blog before.

Needless to say, many of the above conditions trigger others listed above. So I’ve been dealing with the chain reaction syndrome I am very used to by now. So, I just wanted to surface for air long enough to let you know that I am drowning in tasks to do, I am going as fast as I can to catch up, and it may be awhile before that happens.

I have had several wonderful friends remind me in the last few days to practice what I preach and remember to make self-care a priority. So, I am going to listen to my wise, thoughtful friends (too many to list, I’m afraid, but you know who you are!) and try to remember the basics such as relaxing, breathing, and taking breaks. I also want to thank the friends who have given me special support this week. Again, there are too many to list but you know who you are.

Have a wonderful weekend. Peace out.

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

This weekend I had one of my regular acupuncture sessions. Acupuncture has helped me so much with so many different illnesses. It’s hard to capture in words how much it has helped me.

I JUST LOVE ACUPUNCTURE!!

Japanese style acupuncture needles that are used by my acupuncturist (with a penny for size perspective)

If you missed my previous posts on acupuncture, here are a couple of links (including one to a video where I talked about acupuncture). I hope you’ll find them helpful!

See prior posts: HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

Well, I finally made another video. Hopefully nobody is passing out. I know it has been awhile since I made one! Some of you probably thought my video-making days were over.

HINT: Please scroll down just far enough to view the video. If you scroll too far down the post before watching the video, you will miss out on properly seeing my surprise.

If you’d like to see what Hubby got me for my birthday (that’s the surprise), click play:

My Raynaud’s and fibromyalgia can make winter weather an interesting adventure! Gone are the days of me wearing shorts on snowy days. No, my body cannot handle that anymore!

Here is a still shot of my birthday present. (By the way, if you are this far into the post and you didn’t already watch the video, you are officially cheating).

I have a feeling any blogger out there will appreciate this gift. I first saw this shirt on Lee’s blog Perpetual Burn. (Lee designed the layout of the site of Alicia – aka Yaya: Yaya Stuff ). I contacted Lee to find out where she got it and then I planted a seed in Hubby’s head. (He had been asking me for ideas for a birthday gift). Voilà! Now I’ve got a blogging shirt.

Please check out my YouTube channel. Just click on the red heart for YouTube in the top right sidebar to access my channel.

Ratings and comments on videos are welcome. My YouTube channel is defaulting to the wrong view and I haven’t figured out how to fix it. When you pull up my channel, the top right corner has two options, “switch to grid view” and “switch to player view”. To view the channel on what it used to default to and make it easier to see things, simply click on “switch to player view”.

I have yet to figure out why this is happening and have just been flipping it manually myself. If anyone has any tips on how to save the default channel setting to “player view”, please let me know. My channel has been acting up ever since YouTube updated the appearance of all the channels. Thank you.

By the way, please don’t feel shy about Stumbling any posts you like here either. Just click “Stumble It!” at the bottom of any post you’d like to recommend to others. There is even an option to write a review of a blog if you wish to take it a step further. I appreciate your support. Thank you!

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

This post is a partial reprint of an article I read on The Canary Report.

While the full post there was more detailed and got into specifics involving claims made by companies targeting multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) patients, for the purposes of this post I have decided to focus on the ten warning signs of a scam, as compiled by Lourdes Salvador and Linda Sepp, and as previously published HERE.

This list, in my opinion, is applicable to nearly any chronic illness patient because the tips for spotting scams listed here are so universally used. This fantastic list is far more concise than I could have written. Yet it captured something I have been wanting to blog about for some time. Longtime readers know that I have blogged about scams and false cures before. However, this list nicely sums up what you, as a chronically ill patient, can be on the lookout for.

Reprinted with permission from:

Lourdes Salvador of MCS America
AND
Linda Sepp, a contributor for The Canary Report

Ten Warning Signs of a Scam:

1. The Promise Of A Quick And Easy Cure

2. Presence Unproven Patient Testimonials & Emotional Appeals Instead Of Science

3. Claims To Cure Many Ailments Which Have No Cure In Medical Science

4. It’s Not Sold In Stores

5. It Has Undisclosed Ingredients Or Content

6. You Have To Keep At It To Get Results

7. It Doesn’t Work Because You Did It Wrong

8. Science Hasn’t Even Bothered To Discredit It (No Threat To Pharmaceutical Sales)

9. The Seller Lacks A Medical Degree Or Similar Qualification

10. It’s Too Good To Be True

Copyrighted © 2009 MCS America

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I am very grateful to Susie Collins for posting about this topic and to Linda Sepp and Lourdes Salvador for writing about this very important topic!

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<

I should have posted about Tori sooner. Longtime readers know it is very overdue. Today is the day. Let the healing begin.

Video clip – a song that helps me when I’m hurting:

The last few weeks have been challenging. My body is smart enough to know this. My body remembers things and sometimes seems to “store them up” and then spring them on me. Today was one of those days when it was truly a struggle to get out of bed. I am not talking about not feeling like getting out of bed or being too tired to do so. No, I am talking about waking up and wondering to myself, “HOW am I going to get out of bed?” My husband left for work before I got up because he knew I needed the sleep and that I didn’t have any doctor’s appointments today. So there wasn’t anyone home to physically get me out of bed and I started the day wondering how I was going to do it without help.

My muscles hurt. My skin hurts. I hurt everywhere from head to toe. My teeth hurt (some of which is cavity-related – but not all – because this still happens when I’m cavity-free). My hair even hurts. I feel like I got hit by a truck, then a train, and then a bus. Every molecule of my body hurts. Every cell. I am sore. None of this is new to me. I’ve hurt this much before. I am just incredibly frustrated because I have so much I want to do and have to do but I am so sore that I am barely functional right now.

Rather than focus on the pain (a trap into which I could easily fall on a day like today), I am going to practice what I preach and fall back on self-care and coping mechanisms.

I have decided to have an Almost Rosey day.

One coping mechanism is gratitude. I am thankful that the acupuncture I had the other day has definitely lessened the nerve pain in my “surgery that didn’t go as expected back in January 2008″ leg. The pain was out of control because I had missed two acupuncture appointments… resulting in the longest gap between appointments that I’ve ever had. I am thankful that the bladder instillation has calmed down my interstitial cystitis, which really got flaring badly a few days ago. I am thankful to have a roof over my head and that it is nice and warm in here.

Next, I am going to find some Tori Amos music. As longtime readers will recall, Tori’s music helps me at the toughest times, helps me cope with pain, and calms me down when I’m agitated. Her seasonal album was released recently and it’s just beautiful. So, I’ll be putting that on in just a minute.

As far as self-care, I got enough sleep last night (despite horrible insomnia that kept me up too late). My next focus is on making myself eat whether I feel like it or not. Who knows? I might even fit in some meditation time.

All I know is the pain I’m in right now is the kind that makes it hard to think straight, makes everything a massive effort, and makes me appreciate the times when simple functioning isn’t such a struggle.

I posted the preceding video (which I have posted previously) because I needed some “Almost Rosey” today. Now, I’m off to pop in my new Tori CD (Midwinter Graces, a beautiful seasonal album I highly recommend) to try to chill out and relax my muscles in the hope of getting the edge off of some of this pain because it has reached the overwhelming stage. I’m right on that edge right now of wondering whether to try my hardest to stay calm and relax myself before the tears start to spill… or purposely having a good cry to get the release that may come from that. I’m not sure which will happen yet. Maybe both. Maybe a good cry will enable me to lie down and really appreciate my Tori Amos music so I can try to relax my muscles. Time will tell. I am just going to try my best to listen to my body’s signals and do what my body wants and needs.

Finally, I will close with some links to previous Tori Amos posts… because her music is honestly one of my biggest coping mechanisms.

See previous posts HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This post was written by Jeanne at http://chronichealing.com. Copyright © Jeanne — chronichealing.com. All rights reserved.

“Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away.” ~~ Robert Fulghum

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you for supporting this blog by shopping Amazon via my ads & spreading the word to others! So many of you have done so in these last couple of months; I greatly appreciate your support!!

Thank you for your blog comments!

New to blog commenting? Just click “comments” below the post. If you grab a Gravatar, your picture will show with your comment.

>> Stumbling & tweeting my blog posts is greatly appreciated! <<