Things I use for Pain

Yesterday I spoke of pain.  I wanted you to think of how you deal with It.  Today, I will share how I deal with my forms of It.  (Other than the traditional methods)


It has taken me many years of trial and error.  I know that for some these things may not work and for others you may think these ways are a bunch of 'hooey,' but if you try them out, you may be surprised.

1. Chiropractics--I have been going every month (sometimes twice a month) for over 14 years. There was a time I thought I can't afford this so I am not going.  I regretted it and ended up heading back.  I have found one I trust with my life.  He is now a family friend.  His wife and I chat is up when we are there, and he is always asking about my kids.  He has seen me on my worst days.  His m-i-l had MS, so he knows all about my disease and what will help me.  I have gone in at times in my wheelchair and after a few weeks of adjustments, I am back to walking.
2. Acupuncture--I get this done at my chiro's office.  It is a spinal rehab center so specializes in a lot of pain management.  I have this done when I get migraines.  Not too often, but it sure does help.
3. Micro-current therapy--I do this when I go into for my monthly spinal adjustment.  I believe it is why I am walking today.  No doubt about it!   Again, tried for a few months without, went right back on it.  Noticed a huge difference. More balance, less pain, and overall well-being when I am consistent. http://web.me.com/serena1arm/Panacea_Wellness/Microcurrent.html
4. Nutrition-- No special diets. I have lost 50 pounds since being diagnosed in 1996 and have kept it off.  But the important thing to remember is MODERATION.  Don't go pigging out on everything all the time.  And don't be eating foods that are bad for you.  I eat things low in sodium, low in carbs, high in fiber and protein.  It helps with over all well-being and feeling good so that helps me deal with pain better.  And being 50 lbs lighter helps with walking and exercise.  And I don't beat myself up if I by chance have a day or two (or a week of vacation) where I eat really bad.  I just go back on the moderation diet.
5. Yoga--Yes, yoga.  I am not consistent with this although I try to be.  I have several videos I have at home I work on.  It helps with spasticity in my legs and with balance.  My cat loves to try to join me on this and hasn't figured out the she usually gets a good toss out of the room each time.  :)  Videos I love for my workouts--easy to hard:  http://www.mobilityltd.com/pathways.htm   ;   http://www.amazon.com/AM-PM-Yoga-Beginners-VHS/dp/094567189X/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1327340055&sr=1-2 (am portion with rodney yee.  PM portion too hard)  ; http://www.amazon.com/M-Yoga-Your-Week/dp/B000YV1L4E/ref=pd_sim_mov_3  (different am version)
6. Essential Oils--I was introduced to these by another s-i-l of mine who then had her brother (my outlaw--hahaha) show me the wonders of these.  I will be talking about the brand I use which is doTerra, but there are others out there.  http://www.doterra.com/us/essentialDefinition.php    I first tried AromaTouch® Massage Blend  to help with my neuropathy as my outlaw told me this was something to have been shown to help diabetic neuropathy.   I have since moved on to Frankincense, Peppermint,  Deep Blue® Soothing Blend   and others to help with my MS symptoms.  I have been able to go off of some of my synthetic medications completely, my pain is all but gone, and my neuropathy is under control.   I have even shared some of this pain-controlling stuff with my rose-growing friend.  She is excited to give it a try. (If any of you are interested, I can tell you about these.  There are all sorts of things, from calming scents to oils to freshen your house.  I love the lemon!  I add it to furniture polish to my water to frosting for cookies.)

 I hope that through my list  you may have found a way to help ease what troubles you.

Pain

The longer I live, the more I realize everyone is dealing with our friendly, ride-along, Pain. It is not something we enjoy, but some of us have learned to deal with It.  I have tried to decide whether It is female or male, but have determined not to assign It a sexual connotation. That sounds wrong.  Kind of like people giving cars or boats a name like Betty or Jane.  I can't seem to give the neuropthy in my legs a name like Joe or Samantha or something normal sounding like that.  So it remains It.

Pain and people's way of handling It, whether physical or mental, got me pondering in great depths this week  So much so, I had to write this up in my blog.  It saddened me in someways on how It is dealt with by all.

As kids, we don't really handle It well.  But, I think even then, there are differences.  I remember my youngest brother was one who would milk every illness or injury for all it was worth.  He would sit on the couch and act like the world was ending, even if he had the littlest of colds.  He would drive everyone crazy with his panting and wheezing, pouting and whining.  My son was the same way.  I dreaded him getting sick, which was often.  And, he did break body parts and had It a lot in his life, so I heard him many times.

Thank goodness this changed as both boys grew older and learned to tolerate things more.  Or maybe it was the lack of patience from family members?  Hmmm....

My son came home from school last with news that led me thinking about It.  A friend of his had passed away, and all this week, I was thinking on the Pain his family must be going through. Then, I was visiting with a friend who has been suffering with back pain caused by a surgery gone wrong. I see her out in the summer working on her roses  slowly walking from bush to bush pruning and weeding each one with loving care.  And when I don't see her in church, I know it is because It has become too unbearable to sit on the padded pews for the allotted time of the meetings.

How many of us have It to deal with each day of our lives?  And how do we handle the It we have? Are we like little kids who cry and whine for attention or do we bravely handle what we have to bare?

My sister-in-law shared with me how one of her friends handles It, and I was pretty amazed.  It kind of made me want to be better about how I handled the Pain I had to bare, whether it is physical or mental.  This friend  has Crohn's disease.  Symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, intestinal bleeding, rectal pain, and the list goes on. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/crohns-disease/DS00104/DSECTION=symptoms   Anyway, her It is immense.  My s-i-l told me her friend gets up on her worst days and fixes herself up beautifully so the whole world will not know her It and goes out with a smile.  She says doing this is hard to do, but that way she is not at home feeling sorry for herself and dwelling on It.


That got me thinking about my life when my s-i-l shared this with me.  I started doing this a bit more and it did make me stop thinking about my It a little less.  I don't always forget.  Sometimes this is hard to do, but I feel I can move on and work on other things in my life.  And maybe that is why my friend has fantastic roses.  So as I was thinking this week of ways I deal with It, I would like others out there to share your ways.  Please post your ways.  Help me and help others.  We can all use a bit of cheer now and then.  No one has the right answer except maybe God for those of us who believe in Him.

Let us reach out and help out all of us who deal with It--religious or non-religious; even if you may think it is silly.  I want to know how you deal with your Pain.

Frustrations

I am sure we have all been at a point of our lives when we have tried to do something that has made us angry or upset because we couldn't do it.  Either because we didn't know how, didn't have the ability, or the just strength to do it.  Take changing a flat tire, for instance.  Now I know how to do it. My dad taught me how to when I was about  15 or 16 so I could manage it on my own.

One day, when my kids were four and two, we were turning a corner on fairly busy street of Salt Lake City when the back rear tire gave the tell-tale signs of being flat.  I pulled way over, telling the kids to hold on and Mommy would handle this.  I hauled everything out I needed and took the lug wrench to the lug nuts on the tire.  I put my weight into it,  Nothing.  I grabbed my trusty can of WD-40, sprayed the lugs, waited a few minutes, and tried again.  I carefully got on the lug wrench and bounced on it.  Still nothing.

By now, my little dimpled daughter was asking what was wrong, and if we were going to go to the grocery store to get her treat.  Sweating, I looked up and growled, "If I can get this tire changed. Your dad tightened it too tight!"

By then an older man had pulled over and asked if I needed help.  He said, "It looks like you don't have the muscles to get that off.  I can help you, ma'am."

MA'AM?!  Muscles?!!  You would need a torque wrench to get this off!  But, I bit my tongue and let this guy have at it.  He did the same things I did and couldn't do it.  He was sweating and huffing and puffing.  His big pot-belly chuckled and then gave me the lug wrench.  "Guess I'm not much help." He got in his car and drove off.

I threw everything back into my trunk, slammed it shut, hauled my kids out of their car seats, and hiked the 5 long blocks back to our apartment hoping my car wouldn't be hit or stripped down for parts there on the side of the road.  Rick came back later with a torque wrench and change the flat.

I look back on it now and laugh, but it is one of the many frustrations I started to have with MS.

Another thing I love to do is play Scattergories or Scrabble.  It keeps the mind hopping.  But as the years progress I find it gets harder and harder for the words to get from my brain to my tongue or my fingertips/pencil.  I used to be able to think of all sorts of hard words, after all I was an English major. My brother hated playing me in any word games since I was the triple word scoring type person. But cognitive functions are getting frustrating for me.

When I talk to my family, sometimes I get strange looks from them.  When this happens, I know what I think I said is not what came out of my mouth.  I often tell them listen to my thoughts not what I said.

When I give talks or lectures for the community or church, I have to make sure I go over my notes very carefully.  I tell the people I have MS and sometimes things may come out garbled and if they do, don't hesitate to let me know and I will clarify.   I turn it into a joke for both them and me.

One thing that has help with this frustration is nutrition.  I am taking better supplements and working on things that help with cognitive.  So my brain lapses are few.  Yah for me!  I work on crosswords and other mind games that stimulate brain power.  Such as Scattergories and Scrabble.

Another frustration is I have a lack of feeling in my fingertips.  I lost total feeling in late of 1998.  I had to teach myself to write, type, sew, cook, etc all over again.  Now 13 years later, I have partial feeling (tingling) that still makes it hard to do things. I once told a doctor of mine it is like having Band-Aid's on all your fingertips.

I can't type without looking at the keyboard from time to time since I can't feel the marks of where your fingers should be.  I no longer can play my violin up to speed; I was in my college's orchestra. BUT, I can play by looking at my fingers to see where they are placed and memorizing the music. Nothing fancy, but I still can play.  I can crochet just using a bigger hook.  I have just recently found I can't do my beloved cross-stitch, but I am working on a way to get around that.  Still thinking on that one.

There are things I have gone out of my way to teach myself to do because NO one was going to tell me I couldn't learn to do it.  Just because I am disabled doesn't mean I'm unable.  It can be frustrating trying to overcome all the things we do in this life, whether illness, prejudice, loneliness, hate, or just our own inner voices telling us we can't.  But we need to think of the things we have accomplished in this life.  Give ourselves credit for all the greatness we have done and keep pressing forward.  Even if it is one keystroke at a time!

Bury the Hatchet

I am sure you have heard the phrase 'bury the hatchet.'   In fact, Garth Brooks sings a great song about that, but mentions leaving the handle sticking out.  Do you know what it means or where the phrase comes from?

"Bury the hatchet' means to settle your difference with an adversary.  The phrase has been around much earlier, possibly earlier than the recorded 1644.  It originated as an early American Indian tradition. Hatchets were buried by the chiefs of the tribes when they came to a peace agreement. The farther in the depths of the earth the hatchet was thrown, the longer the peace would last. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bury-the-hatchet.html

I guess this word can equal forgiveness, acceptance, tolerance, and maybe patience with those around us.  Especially those that have offended us in some way--real or imagined.

I am not immune to leaving the handle sticking out.  I have worked for years on a couple of my hatchets.  In fact, some of these hatchets used to be pots of stew simmering on the back burner and would turn into boiling over, scalding, hot lava on occasion.  They have magically morphed into hatchets and many I have buried for good.

I will give you an example from my life so you can maybe look into yours and see what pots of stew or hatchets you may have lurking about maybe causing damage to yourself or others--mainly yourself.  This kind of baggage just sits around dragging you down day after day festering and rotting your soul.

In high school gym class was the first time my MS flared up.  I had a gym teacher who also was the track coach so most of our classes were spent running and running.  One day, my right leg just gave out, turned to jello, and I hit the hard cement floor.  I tried to get back up, but my leg wouldn't support my weight, and I collapsed back down.  Meanwhile, all my classmates kept running by me.

Now, in this class, I had no friends.  I had some how managed to get assigned to the class with all the popular kids.  I was in the smart/drama clique and this class was full of  jocks and cheerleaders. So as they ran by, snide remarks were made about me being on the floor and cleaning it up or trying to get out of running.

The track coach came over and barked orders at me to get up off the floor.  I told him I couldn't.  My leg wasn't working.  He then yelled at the TA to get over and help me up and kept and running. Heaven forbid he should stop his running.  He never stopping running.  The TA came over to me and grab my arm and said, "Get up!"  I told him my leg felt funny and wasn't working.  "It won't hold my weight."  He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet.  I promptly fell back down.  He glared at me, grabbed my arm and dragged  me to the side of the gym out of the way of the oncoming runners.  He left me there.

Lucky for me, my leg started working by the time the bell rang, or I might have been there the rest of the day.  No one bothered to check on me after that.

I was humiliated, angry, scared, you name it.  Every emotion known to man went through me then.  I wanted to do something to get back at everyone in that class but knew it was pointless.

I had the leg issue two more times after that at different times (thank goodness never in gym again) and then nothing for 10 more years, but I thought about  it many times.  I wrote about it in my journal; I ranted to Rick about it during the early years we were married; and when I just wanted to be mad, I would grab the handle and swing that hatchet around a bit.

But, why?  Did I like to get my blood pressure up?  Did those people in the class know I had a real problem? Did the coach really know I wasn't one of those girls trying to get out of gym class?  Does it really matter now?   The answer to all those questions is a BIG FAT NO!   So why dwell on it.  I am just going to give myself an ulcer.

And that is what I have decided with hatchets.   They don't matter to any one but me or you.  They cause stress, fights, family feuds, ulcers and other health problems.  So it was time to move on.

So what about you?  How many hatchets do have?  Do you need to bury some or rebury some? With this year barely underway, I think it is time for us to bury the hatchet!

What-if's

The start of a new year always fills me with mixed emotions.  I look over the past year and see all that was done or could have been done and play the 'what if' game.  And then, I look toward the new year and do the same with what could be done or should be done in the months ahead.  And really, some things shouldn't be dredged up--like the whole key-lime cheesecake I ate for my Mother's Day celebration last year (although it really was VERY, VERY good).  I just don't want to relieve the beating up I gave myself when I read the label on fat & carb content for this decadent dessert.

Do you play the 'what-if' game?  How often do you play it?  I actually play it a lot, and it really gets me no where.  Sometimes, it makes me angry, and I start thinking, "What if he had only ...."    or  "What if she had done this?"  But most of the time it makes me depressed because I start thinking things related to my MS:  "What if I has started my Tysabri earlier?"  "What if I hadn't fallen over that chew toy?"  "What if I hadn't caught that cold?"

Do you see why those are silly games to play?  There are no answers to these questions.  It is like asking "What if the sun where to turn blue?"  So what if it were?  What would happen?  You would go on and live!  AND the sun would be blue!  What if I hadn't eaten that key-lime cheesecake?  I wouldn't have gained a few pounds (which I have promptly lost) and wouldn't have enjoyed it!

I was talking to my daughter, Jess, over this past holiday and she was tormenting herself over a past 'what-if.'  I tried to tell her she had done everything in her power to do what needed to be done and now it was time to let this 'what-if' move on.  The 'what-if' is what hasn't moved on.  So Jess, enjoy your cheesecake.   You can have chocolate, though.  :)

So as this year starts, what things are you going to torment yourself with?  Do these these things finally need to be set aside?  I have made it my goal to set aside one, JUST ONE, 'what-if' item. I am going  to work on eliminating it from my life.  I would like to be able to stop dwelling on it and having it creeping into my mind.  I want to be able to be able to enjoy the freedom that comes from no more 'what-if's' !