TIPS FOR DEALING WITH PEOPLE IN PAIN

1. People with chronic pain seem unreliable (we can’t count on ourselves). When feeling better we promise things (and mean it); when in serious pain, we may not even show up.

2. An action or situation may result in pain several hours later, or even the next day. Delayed pain is confusing to people who have never experienced it.

3. Pain can inhibit listening and other communication skills. It’s like having someone shouting at you, or trying to talk with a fire alarm going off in the room. The effect of pain on the mind can seem like attention deficit disorder. So you may have to repeat a request, or write things down for a person with chronic pain. Don’t take it personally, or think that they are stupid.

4. The senses can overload while in pain. For example, noises that wouldn’t normally bother you, seem too much.

5. Patience may seem short. We can’t wait in a long line; can’t wait for a long drawn out conversation.

6. Don’t always ask “how are you” unless you are genuinely prepared to listen it just points attention inward.

7. Pain can sometimes trigger psychological disabilities (usually very temporary). When in pain, a small task, like hanging out the laundry, can seem like a huge wall, too high to climb over. An hour later the same job may be quite OK. It is sane to be depressed occasionally when you hurt.

8. Pain can come on fairly quickly and unexpectedly. Pain sometimes abates after a short rest. Chronic pain people appear to arrive and fade unpredictably to others.

9. Knowing where a refuge is, such as a couch, a bed, or comfortable chair, is as important as knowing where a bathroom is. A visit is much more enjoyable if the chronic pain person knows there is a refuge if needed. A person with chronic pain may not want to go anywhere that has no refuge (e.g.no place to sit or lie down).

10. Small acts of kindness can seem like huge acts of mercy to a person in pain. Your offer of a pillow or a cup of tea can be a really big thing to a person who is feeling temporarily helpless in the face of encroaching pain.

11. Not all pain is easy to locate or describe. Sometimes there is a body-wide feeling of discomfort, with hard to describe pains in the entire back, or in both legs, but not in one particular spot you can point to. Our vocabulary for pain is very limited, compared to the body’s ability to feel varieties of discomfort.

12. We may not have a good “reason” for the pain. Medical science is still limited in its understanding of pain. Many people have pain that is not yet classified by doctors as an officially recognized “disease”. That does not reduce the pain, – it only reduces our ability to give it a label, and to have you believe us.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN     to all those who care, THANK YOU <3 div="div">

This To Shall Pass-One Year Ago

                               It is has been a year of great sadness, great joy, much growing, learning.......one year ago I was sent away as suicidal, what none sense, i just wanted to dissapper, leave all the pain in life..never have I wanted to die ( ok one moment, after being cut and quartered , they forgot to medicate me, i did leave the building , for a moment, self preservation ) never of my own free will, just needed to disappear to find the joy again....no one was listening ...so they locked me up, so surreal even the Doctor said I had to much color to be in there, I could not relate at all...one very long week..so many truths came out to see the light of day. My body and I have been to hell and back, some of the sweetest gifts I have ever received, some of the most painful truths came to surface..what a thin line we walk. 3 Doc. enforced withdrawals....sending me into a nose dive, every body issue I have surfaces to the top, omg, so many have now accumulated..most a direct result of bad procedures forced upon me by the medical community, I feel like a guinea pig. How can they not know, how much more devastating these procedures are, than a pill would be??????  Three different pain clinics, three,  how can this be, each time having to bend to the will of the "Powers That Be" their procedures ( never want to hear that word again), it is not easy to bend when in so much pain..each time more and more truths in my life also appear. I was forced to look at my body truths and my  emotional truths. Once or twice in a decade is more than enough, so 3 times have been way too much, I was forced to make many changes most have been sad, their beauty is that the sadness when dealt with makes room for true joy. I  am grateful for the growth the lessons learned, the joy that begins to enter my life. I never want to do it again, I will continue to blossom becoming myself please let me open the doors at my own time and pace...i do not know if I could endure another forced growth spurt, my body alone will not make it, all ready I walk that line. Yet the gifts received are many, new friends, old friends, support is the sweetest of all. I give thanks to the Power for all that has happened, I really appreciate the sweet  sweet joy, ONE LOVE.......                                                                                                          

the heart of the beast

                   WHERE HAVE I BEEN, WHERE HAVEN'T I BEEN
I have seen the underside of the beast working my way back out. The atrocities I have had to endure the past few months are beyond recognition. i have been thrown to the street more times than i can remember, if you die i will get blamed, no one ever dies from withdrawal, you are to blame, junkie, er- never come back, 6 months- cannot find your records-no meds for you, surgery's total paralysis or a pump under 9 scars. What about me? Cannot walk, nor sit, neck so swollen so big-thyroid,feet stabbing-spasms gloure curling up no recognition, blood boiling heart forever sore- sweet to sweet, can't take it no more!    Thank you UNCLE SAM YOUR POLOCIES DESTROY , laws make our hearts green , fear is everywhere  , running no cares, so where, where do I go now, how do i get there??? TEAR much PAIN, I am back.                              

                                         I haven't blogged in a few days, I really thought that last one would unblock me. But I'm afraid it's more than that. I'm stuck, . Not just in my ability to write more but I think because of my body and the fact that no one will help control this pain, I'm feeling stuck in every direction I turn.

This is really frustrating, I've always been a person to pull myself up, dust myself off, and keep on moving. And usually with a smile on my face, some how for some reason it's not happening this time. Maybe because I'm trying to change too many things at one time, so none of them seem to change. I can't even seem to find my smile right now, but four years of nonstop, wait I did have three weeks without pain, it's getting harder and harder to see the light. And every time I do something snuffs it out. That's all I can write today

                                                                              Today I think I'll blog about relationships especially those between the disabled person and those around them that are their support system, and their loved ones.
I know it can be very difficult to be around someone who is disabled, they constantly need something. Whether it be food, shower, laundry, kitchen cleaned, and my favorite a ride to the doctor's office. I really do understand how difficult it is for the people around us, they have lives. Their lives are quite full, they did not ask to get stuck with someone like us. Someone who needs so much attention, but that just talking about timewise , i am also talking about mental and emotional support. Most people it would seem just don't have it in them, to give to another human in such a time-consuming, emotionally consuming way.
It is equally hard for us who need the help. Being a burden to others is a horrible feeling made even worse by other people's response. The worst thing for me is when I ask for some help and the response is go ask someone else. And when you ask that person they say ask someone else. It really is quite humiliating, and emotionally painful. But once again, I do understand that I am seen as a burden, and most of the people around me, they would rather I not be in this position, but then I'd rather not be in this condition. I can't tell you how many times I heard you can do this it yourself, or I'm to busy right now maybe later. Or I'm too tired right now ask me again another time. Don't they understand that it's hard enough to ask just once? But to ask multiple times can be downright hurtful.
Dammit the mouse back back l least I have company. But that little bugger needs to start paying rent! Bottom line here is that this is really hard on everyone. Those of us who are disabled, are already dealing with so many issues, our bodies that are falling apart, the pain that we live with is so damaging not only to our bodies but to our souls as well. Never mind the effect it has on our brain and when that physical pain kicks in so strong and sometimes for so long  that our emotional beings become affected as well. Then those around us tend to get mad, they get mad, they judge, and start dictating how we should behave. They do not understand that our behavior, our very personalities become affected by our condition. Even the condition causes a lot of  the changes, but the medications we are given can also have a profound effect on our minds and our personalities. Nine times out of 10 it is the most benign of the medications that seem to have this effect, although the doctors will tell our caregivers that it is stronger stuff that is causing this. And because we are not our right minds, or so they think, no one listens to what we have to say, just because it's our bodies our minds that are being affected, we shouldn't have a clue as to the cause? That's another issue that makes it all so much more difficult, not being heard, people hearing what they choose to hear instead of what is really being said.
The hardest part for me is being disowned by the very people that should be my support system. I am told that I am hurtful and angry and they don't want to be around me anymore. The saddest part is when all of this happened I was on a medication that completely changed my personality, and I have no recollection of it. In trying to explain that to them,I am told that I refuse to  take responsibility for my actions. Kind of hard to take responsibility for actions you don't remember, even though I have apologized numerous times and I really am sorry and I am sorry that I don't remember. It's not an excuse nor is it away out of taking responsibility, it's just simply a fact.
While this blog's been sitting in me for quite a while, and I really did not want nor know how to put it out there. But it is blocking me from continuing forward and that is not good. I do want it to end by saying, I appreciate each and every thing they do for me more than there will ever know, maybe it's because I know how much they do not want to do it, but either way I do appreciate everything so very much. Believe it or not I'm grateful, they won't believe it but I to know that. Just like I know many other things, I am not believed or heard because I am disabled.

                           

This too shall pass

                                                                          I  am getting really tired of all these ups and downs that are being thrown at us by society. It's not only today's new curve balls thrown by society, many people today, thought that issues we had overcome in the 80s and in the 90s, are now back to haunt us. There are also new issues that have arisen to make our lives so much more difficult. What is all the noise about same-sex couples, I thought that was really old news by now. And then of course there's the war that we've declared on most of the world. On the entire Middle East, and the majority of Africa. It really hurts my soul, that there is no heart left in this country. It's all about power and control, whoever has the most power has the most control. Am I that naive to think that this government has not always been about control, if I look back I guess have. The government has become big brother, I cannot believe how much my life is tainted by laws that govern every part of our lives, but also the lives of others outside of this country. It's becoming more and more difficult to function in society, and we're exporting this Brand of government to the rest of the world spewing the wonders and glories of being an American. When I cannot even get simple medication to control the pain in my body, with a broken back, and the laws allow or even force the doctors into behaving in a really cruel and inhumane fashion. Even in the Third World they know better than to behave that way. To let another human suffering needlessly,this is what we're exporting, that is the standard we are setting for global domination.

                            Again, I think it's really sad that power and control run this country and is being quickly learned by the rest of the world. This is the legacy that the United States of America wants to impart upon the rest of the world. This is the standard to which all must aspire? I really hope not, I think most of the world has a lot of heart in it, people understand that power and greed is not going to make their lives whole or happy. But it is the heart of a nation and the people there in that will make the world a place where we all want to exists.

Thiss Too Shall Pass

   I got one hell of a dilemma, I went to new pain doctor today who'll give me the relaxer i need so my spine is not constantly quivering. However, he cut the pain medication by 500 mg a day. I can't even think straight right, trying to decide what to do. And I talked to the pain clinic they kicked me out finally learning the reasons. Apparently I signed a document stating that I would not go anywhere else for medication and in going to the psychiatrist to get medication to help stop the quivering, I broke the rules. Never mind they told me to go, never mind they said I needed this medication they just weren't qualified to prescribe it. It would seem that today doctors can do pretty much whatever they feel like doing including lying, manipulating, out and out deception. How can they ever expect us to heal when treating us in such a horrid manner. After surgeons have cut me up 10 times, left an infection in my back for six years, left a bone fragment on the sciatic nerve for six months. Yet they are not responsible in any way for the damage that they have caused my body. Now I am trying to get some relief from all that damage and I cannot. Every time I go to a doctor in the beginning I am told yes you need help yes you need to, is yes you need that, but I can't help you. So I'd like to know who the hell will help me, all I'm asking for is a quality of life, not even the life I had prior to this this mess, but just some quality to my life. I have never before been forced to lay in bed to the point of having bedsores but I do now. Enough is enough already I'm tired of being sick and in pain and playing around doing nothing with my life but writing in this stupid blog that I doubt anyone reads or even cares about if they do read it..