Saying a Belated Goodbye to 2012

Well, 121212 has come and gone and the world didn't end !!
The Mayans didn't really believethat the world was going to end. For them it was the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one. Just like we send out the old year and ring in a new one. I didn't do this to well in 2012. My year ended with me catching  a cold about 2 weeks before Christmas.  That put a major wrench into the holidays.Usually I love all the decorating, card sending,singing, cooking and baking of the season, but in 2012 I did almost none of it.

Also, our best friend ended up in the hospital on December 23 for 9 days (she's home now and doing better).

The cold or whatever I had caused me to miss singing in our church choir for Christmas Eve. But my fellow choir members sounded beautiful from my seat in the congregation.

We did enjoy Christmas Buffet at River City Casino followed by a few hours spent with my brother Paul and family at their place.

Here we are at the middle of January and I've just finished putting Christmas things away- and then I noticed the stockings were still laying on the arm of t?he couch- I never did get around to hanging them!

January hasn't gotten off to such a great start either. Everyday I learn of someone who has died, gotten sick or had complications from a prior surgery.

Things have to get better eventually don't they ? I did have a nice day yesterday with my hubby. We both took a vacation day from work. The highlights of the day were me making him a favorite breakfastof Baked Eggs in Bacon Rings, my gift to him of tickets to hear favorite performers, Bela Fleck and Chick Corea and lunch at a favorite restaurant- Bixby's.

And so the year continues.

Until next time,

I continue to strive to Live, Think and Be pain-free.

JOY☆♡

How to Have a Pain-Free Christmas

Unplug the Christmas Machine by Jo Anderson
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Read one or both of the above titles for inspiration.

Then take a half hour or so to remember and forgive yourself for those holiday things you did in the past that you no longer can or want to do.
Make sure to stick as close as possible to your normal waking, sleeping, medicine taking, exercising and eating schedule.
Build in some extra rest time. Some ways I like to do this are:
Sit and look at the lit tree and admire and remember where we got each ornament.
Reread the (Biblical) Christmas story and other favorite stories or poems of the season.
Snuggle up with your hubby (or a pet) and watch your favorite Holiday specials. ( I am partial to How the Grinch Stole Christmas; my hubby is a big fan of Its A Wonderful Life).
Most of all Have a Merry Christmas
and until next time- Remember to Think, Live and Be pain-free.

Joy♡☆

Take Time to Give Thanks

Put aside your pain for a day. It's a proven fact that thinking happy thoughts or thinking about happy places does wonders for easing all kinds of pain and makes happier and healthier.
Here is my list:

1. Thanks to God who made me and cares for me.
2.Thanks for my family-immediate and extended.
3. Thanks for my church family.
4. Thanks for my family of co-workers.
5. Thanks for all my spondy friends who help me to realize that I do not suffer alone.
6.Thanks music which feeds my soul.
7. Thanks for water-rivers, lakes, oceans and drops.
8.Thanks for the written word which can inspire.
9. Thanks for dogs who excite me and warm my heart.
10. Thanks for trees and grass and flowers.
My list could go on and on....

What are you thankful for? What would you add to my list ?

Until next time,
Live, Think and Be Pain free.

An Almost Unbearable Day of Pain

<p>Today has been a bad pain day for me. Normally I can tolerate the pain without it bothering me too much. Every once in a while though it likes to remind me of all the broken bones that I've had over the years. It also reminds me that I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, an autoimmune and systemic form of arthritis. <br>
What do I do on these days? I really try not to dwell on the pain. We are busy at work right now so I have something else to focus on. I try to ignore the other people around me who are constantly moaning and groaning. I find ways to laugh-laughter releases endorphins-which sometimes eases pain. I don't usually like to broadcast it, but if someone asks I will tell them it's a bad pain day. My hope is always that tomorrow will be a better (less pain) day.
How do you ease pain?
Until next time,

Live,Think and Be Pain-free

Joy: )

The Famous Mayo Clinc

This week I am at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I am here with my mother who is having a series of follow-up appointments here. What a great privilege it is to be able to visit one of the most famous medical places in the United State. What a huge complex of buildings, doctors and other personnel this is. We are staying at the Kahler Grand Hotel, which is just across the street. Some highlights of this trip have been:

1. a trip to the Patient Education Center, an assortment of almost any medical information that a patient or visitor would want or need.

2. Viewing all the beautiful art work as we walk from building to building and within the buildings.

3. The skyway and subway systems. All of the Mayo buildings and some of the hotels are connected by a series of above or underground tunnels. Many of these have restaurants or shops for you to peruse along the way.  We bought shoes, sundries and ate at several good restaurants. We even treated ourselves to a mother/daughter mani/pedi day !!

You can learn more about the Mayo Clinic by clicking on the link below:

Mayo Clinic Rochester
www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

The clinic has doctors , hospitals and treatments for almost every ailment one could have. They are on the cutting edge of research in many conditions.


Department of Pain Medicine

www.mayoclinic.org/pain-medicine-rst

My mother will have one more procedure here tomorrow morning-Thursday.

Until next time,

Live, Think and Be pain-free,

Joy:)

How to Define Pain

What is Pain ?

In her book The Pain Chronicles, Melanie Thernstrom(1) describes physical pain as," being in a different realm, a state of being unlike any other, a magic mountain removed from the familiar world as a dreamscape".

A quick journey to dictionary.com(2) provides seven different definitions for the word for the word  pain.

They are :

noun

1.

physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.

2.

a distressing sensation in a particular part of the body: aback pain.

3.

mental or emotional suffering or torment: I am sorry my newscauses you such pain.

4.

pains,

a.

laborious or careful efforts; assiduous care: Great pains have been taken to repair the engine perfectly.

b.

the suffering of childbirth.

5.

Informal . an annoying or troublesome person or thing.

verb (used with object)

6.

to cause physical pain to; hurt.

7.

to cause (someone) mental or emotional pain; distress: Your sarcasm pained me.

Pain has been with us since the very beginning. Many passages of the Bible(3) talk about pain.. Here are just a few of them:

Genesis 3.16:

To the woman he said,
‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
   in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
   and he shall rule over you.’

Job 14.22:

They feel only the pain of their own bodies,
   and mourn only for themselves.’ 

Job 16.6:

‘If I speak, my pain is not assuaged,
   and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me?

Psalm 38.17:

For I am ready to fall,
   and my pain is ever with me.

Jeremiah 15.18:

Why is my pain unceasing,
   my wound incurable,
   refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
   like waters that fail. 

John 16.20:

Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will   rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

Revelation 21.4:

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’

Stay with me on this pursuit of a pain=free life and together we will explore different aspects of PAIN.

Until Next Time,

Live, Think and Be Pain-free,

Joy:)

References:

1. Melanie Thernstrom, The Pain Chronicles copyright 2010 by Melanie Thernstrom.

2. dictionary.com = WWW.dictionary.com

3. The Holy Bible, New Revised Stander Version"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Caught in the Middle

What ever happened to Good Customer Service ?

As a consumer and a patient, I am getting really tired of dealing with service people who don't put care into their service. I have experienced this several times over the past several weeks. 

The first incident I will tell you about occurred as we were getting bids to repair hail damage from a late spring storm. Wanting to get three bids to compare prices, we contacted several companies. One of them promised a bid by the end of the week but never delivered and never did come through with a bid for us. I guess they didn't really need our business. The salesman at the company we decided to use promised us new soffit and fascia as part of a replacement gutter package. When the crew came out to do the work, they knew nothing about this. When we looked back at the contract, there was no mention of replacing soffit and fascia. Lesson learned-if a salesman promises you something, make sure he includes it in your contract !


The next incident has to do with home delivery. One of the medicines I take for my arthritis comes from a specialty pharmacy. The medicine has to be refrigerated, so it is usually shipped in a sealed Styrofoam container filled with ice packs. Up until my most recent shipment, I have had no problems with this. When I received my July shipment of medicine, my husband went to bring the container into the house only to discover that the bottom had been broken out of the Styrofoam container. My first thought was, I'm surprised they delivered the container in this condition. I thought it would be a good idea to call the specialty pharmacy just to let them know that the Styrofoam container had been damaged. In doing so, I was told that the delivery person was not supposed to leave the shipment when this happens, but was to return it right away for a replacement. I assured them that the contents were unharmed, but I thought they should know about the damage. Who wasn't doing their job?

Hopefully now I was done with incidents. Not so. Last Tuesday I had a visit from a respiratory therapist who was supposed to bring me a new mask for my CPAP machine. First of all, although he did call to alert me, he was 10 minutes late in arriving. I had left work early that day to make sure that I would be home at the time he said he would be at my house. Next, he didn't bring the correct mask with him. He promised he would have the correct mask mailed to me and I should receive it within two days. It is now four days later, and I have yet to receive my new mask.


We don't eat dinner out at a sit-down restaurant too often. Last Thursday, my husband and I agreed to attend a dinner at Pasta House to participate in a presentation by RCI our timeshare company. The company was paying for our dinner. Mid-way through the presentation we were each given a sheet of paper with several menu items on it. We were to circle our choice. I know I had circled Past con Broccoli as that was what I decided to eat that night. When the waiter came with our dinners, he brought me a plate of fish with a side of pasta. This was not what I had ordered. I told him that I didn't order fish. He apologized took the fish back to the kitchen and eventually brought out the right order. To apologize, he brought me a double order, but this time my husband had finished eating, it was late and the pasta was too hot to eat. Wouldn't it be better if he had brought me the right dish to begin with. We don't visit Pasta House very often and definitely won't be going back there for awhile.


All of these incidents have left me with great mental pain and tired of being the customer or the patient caught in the middle of someone who doesn't care enough to do their job correctly or to realize when they haven't. I will continue to report these incidents to the companies and hope that this kind of thing happens less often in the future.


Do you have stories like these ? Please share them with me in the comments box or suggestions to keep this from happening so many times.


Until next time, Live, Think and Be pain-free,

**Joy**

A Life of Falls

Recently my coworkers and I were comparing notes on injuries we have had in prior years. Unfortunately mine have been many. The earliest one I remember (although I'm sure there were some before this) happened when I was in 6th grade. Our class was walking from our annex to the main school building for music class. All the girls were walking on asphalt.  All the boys were walking on ice. For some reason I was following the boys and fell and broke my wrist-my left one and I'm a lefty.


The next incident I remember happened  when I was a teenager. Having a mother who was a camp lifeguard and a great swimmer and water lover, we spent most summer afternoons when I was a teenager at our community swimming pool. One summer I had just learned how to dive from the side of the pool. I wanted to practice this newly learned skill, so I dove in. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and I landed right on top of my younger brother's head. I think it probably hurt me more than him- I ended up with a broken (we think) nose. That was the end of my diving days.


Fast forward to 1982- I now had a new full-time job working for Southwestern Bell/AT&T in Material Management. Still living at home with my parents, one of my duties was to walk their Doby-Dane Daisy Duke.  On one of those walks I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and fell face forward on to the concrete. As I fell, I put my arms out in front of me to brace my fall. OK, no problem, I got up, got Daisy and went home. I finished out the evening and went to bed. The next day I got up and took a shower. It was a little difficult washing my hair, but I managed.  I was getting ready to leave to drive to work and realize my arms were both stiff and it was going to be hard to drive. I told my Mother the situation and she shepherded me off to the emergency room. There I learned that I had broken both of my elbows.
A sling for each arm and a prescription for pain medicine remedied this. I pride myself on only missing 2 days of work-although it did take about 2 or so weeks with both arms in slings for the elbows to heal.


Advance the time clock again to September 1995. My job with Southwestern Bell/AT&T only lasted 41/2 years. I moved on to a series of temporary and short term jobs. At this time I was working through a temp service for Citicorp. I had been at the job almost a year (or maybe longer). One night I has leaving work on my may to pick up my husband Ernie. I pulled out of the parking lot at Citicorp and made a left turn onto the outer road. Apparently, I misjudged the speed at which a van was coming down the outer road and collided with him. This accident landed me in the hospital for a week with a broken right arm and a tibia plateau fracture of my right leg. Once home, I managed to fall again and re-fracture my right arm.


One would think by this time I would have learned to be more careful. Not so. Several years later I was walking the dog again (this time it was Honey-my husband Ernie & my dog)- We had an ice storm and the ground was still covered with ice. I was moving down the steps to walk the dog, tripped on a slippery spot and a loose piece of concrete and down I went once again. This time I managed to break my left foot !!!


This brings us up to date on the major falls/accidents that have occurred in my 55 years of living. Of course these are only the major ones- there are many more minor spills which are too many to name here.


I really like the Japanese saying, "Fall seven times, Stand up eight!" The most important thing in life is to continue to try and continue to pick yourself up when you fall. For sure
I have learned that lesson. 

How many times have you fallen? Have you ever stopped and counted them ? Please use the comment box to share your story.


Until next time do your best to think, live and be pain-free and please try not to fall and I will too !!


--Joy E Last

A Tribute to Doctors, Nurses and Therapists

Today I want to pay tribute to all of those in the medical professions who have been partners in my pain-free journey.
The first one I remember is Dr. August T. Piper, pediatrician and dear family friend.  Of that era also was Dr Gladney (surgeon), Dr Lee (dentist)and Dr Canaan (eye doctor).

As I matured my partners in health were the staffs at Washington University (Barnes Hospital) and Johns Hopkins clinics.

College years saw me cared for lovingly by the campus nurse and a local doctors - Dr Bone and Doctor Scott.

Care of my female organs has been from Dr. Justin Kronor, Dr. Teresita Padilla and currently from Dr. David Weinstein.

The initial journey to discover why I had back and neck pain and stiffness and repeated case of iritis/uveitis was led by Dr. David Brown. Then I discovered a great dignostician and doctor in Owen Kantor, MD and his partner S. Christine Kovacs.

 Another important part of my treatment has been physical therapy. I got off to a great start with Dan Kelley and staff who utilize the MacKenzie method. This method relies a lot on the patient helping him/her self.

Of course this tribute would not be complete without including my current caretakers:

Dr. Rand Sommer & staff of Clinic of Internal Medicine

Dr. John Powell & staff, Dermatologist

Dr. H. Ahmed and staff, St. Luke's Sleep Medicine Center

Dr. David Weinstein , Kendra and staff at Consultants in Womens Health

Dr. Paul Bles and staff, dentist

Dr. Seibert and staff at Overland Eye Associates

Dr. Brian McMorrow & staff at Gateway GI

Therapists and staff at Provider Plus

Pharmacists and other staff at Express Scripts and Curascript

and any others which I may have mistakenly omitted from these lists.

Are you a patient of any of these ? Do you have another doctor, nurse or therapist who deserves a tribute ?

Let me know as a comment.

Until next time,

Do your best to think, live and be pain-free !

In Pursuit of A Pain-Free Life

Today I have had a change of mind and have renamed my blog with what I think is a catchy title- In Pursuit of A Pain-free Life. Of course no life is completely pain free. Some our lives are more pain-free than others. How did we get this way ? My knowledge and instinct tells me that the make-up of our lives comes from several factors-genes and hereditary, our environment, the teachers and mentors who direct our lives, and of course our family. Stay with me on this journey and together we will increase our knowledge in all of these areas and discover new ways of living pain free. Until next time....

Do your best to think,live and be pain-free !!