Chronic Pain

****Happy Independance Day****

Here we are at another month gone by. Not much has changed, but the weather is alot more plesant these days.

I'd like to Welcome and New Comers and invite you to join in on our conversations, give us a try and I promise, you'll not be disappointed.

If your lonely, don't have anyone around you who understands your pain and what it's like to live with Chronic Illness. Just jump right in and you'll meet a group of people here, who understand you & the hows and why's of what it's like living in Chronic Pain and illness.

We also, between us, Have several years experience with living in pain and would love to help, love & support you in any way that you need a friend, shoulder or ear.

Gentle Hugs
Happy Posting
Share your thoughts and experience here. We care and will listen.

Betty

Good Evenng Grinders & Friends

It's a Hot One today and I hope it will continue. I just came in from Watering my flowers and shrubs. They are all doing very well and I do enjoy going out to water them and just piddle around. The only thing I have trouble with, is rolling the dumb hose up again. Just the action of rolling it up, will get the pain in my neck & upper spine to go crazy and feel like I'm on fire.

I had a pretty quiet day today. I got dressed and rode to town to pick up my car from the service station. It needed an allignment and new tires, so Rod wanted me to get it done. She's all fixed up and ready for a trip to Seattle. Then I stopped by the tanning salon and tanned for a few minutes. My salon got in a new bed, that only requres you to lay there for 4-5 min max, so I'm gonna give that one a try next time. Today I did my normal 10 minutes and that's actually really pushing it for me to lay on that hard surface for that long and I have trouble climbing out. They have a stand up Hexigon one, but I can't stand there comfortably for that long with out having something to lean against, so I think the 4 minute one, will really help me out.

I return to Helens house tomorrow, so Deb can attend their big family fourth of July celebration/70th Wedding anniversary for her aunt & Uncle. Helen refusess to attend with Deb, so I told her I would come down and make it a short stay till tuesday am. We are going camping next weekend, so I need to come home early and have a few days of rest before we go. Rods going to fix me up a nice bed again and I hope it's more comfy than last year. I'm taking my zero gravity chair and that will help me out alot too.

I'm gonna head for bed friends, I hope you guys find the July thread and don't post next door. but if you do, Oh well?? I'll get over it. LOL

Mattie will be home tonight late and I can't wait to see him. He's been working so much, I have not gotten to visit him very much either. But I'm gonna run up to Rods sister's barBQ from Helens house to visit family & friends for a while tomorrow and then bring Helen home supper from there.

I'll talk to ya'll tomorrow
Love & Hugs Gang
Betty

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!!
Everyone,

I hope you all have a wonderful day and weekend, safe and happy with friends and family.

Love and hugs,
DS Deb

PS. I was wondering why no one was responding to my postings....Duh, the month changed and Betty was very prompt this month. Congrats Betty. LOL

Good Afternoon and Happy Independance day!

I'm moved back down to Helens house for another 4 days. I'm not even recovered from last time, so this should be a real challenge.

Deb has her getting up for coffee again at 5am and Sis said she was getting up early, so that's just great. But I'll get up with my alarm at 8am in the morning and that's when the coffee is set to go for me and my days.

Matt came home and we all got up early this am, so Rod & I could visit with him, before he left to go get his sweetie and is meeting me up at the BarBQ here in a while. I just wanted to stop in and say Hello and see how ya ll were doing. We had a really nice visit with Mattie this morning and visited and drank coffee out on our patio.

Deb; sorry for not posting that I had moved on to July.... I forgot last night. ooooopes

I'm pooped, my pain is about a 5 and It will only get higher with my activity, so I suspect once I get back and serve Sis her supper (bringing it back from Sis inlaws barbq), then I'm gonna lay in my zero chair or bed for the rest of the night. But I will try to stop in and check on ya all.

Love & Hugs to all
Be Careful driving it's a holiday.
Betty

Just stopped by to say Good Night all.

It's after midnight now and the fireworks has finally died down to a dull snap crackle pop in the distance. It's been a long time since I've spent the 4th in town and boy is it noisy out. LOL

The firworks shows began at 9:15pm and went solid multiple familys & parties, until 11:45pm, then just a few strays and right about midnight, everything went silent. Weird.

My babies were not too bothered by them, I'm glad they don't really care much about them. We used to have a dog that was terrified of them and she would practically eat her way through the back door to get in the house to hide, so we used to lock her inside if we were going to be gone. She was really freightened of fireworks. poor ole girl!

I had a very very nice Morning visiting with my Mattie & Rod. Then I came down here to see sis for a bit and make her some lunch before I went up the mountain to my Sil's house. Visited for a couple hours, then Kellie helped me dish up two plates full of great pasta & fruit dishes and several pieces of chicken and I came home and fed sis & our doggies.

All is well here. Sis was once again very happy to see me come through the door, she said Deb was driving her crazy the past couple of days, so she was glad I cut my days of rest at home, short by 4-5 days. But I'm not recovered yet and am still in my fatigue state, so I hope we just rest tomorrow and I can relax and play on the computer or what ever.

I hope your all tucked in and asleep comfy tonight. Get your rest and I will see you tomorrow. Thank God it's the Lords Day and I'm supposed to rest all day.

Good Night and Sweet Dreams
Hugs to all
Betty

Hey to everyone. I have been fighting this pain demon and not coping too well with it. My long acting has been increased 4 times in 5 weeks and I am still not in a state where I would say I am comfortable. With the latest increase I am not using as many breakthroughs so maybe we we are getting somewhere. I am sleeping far too much but am greatful for that too, as I tell my son less time of the day to be awake and in pain.
I went to ER Tuesday of last week and got some relief. The ER Doc was faxing the surgeon's office hopefully this willhelp advance me up the cue. As it stands now I am considered non urgent maybe this will advance my status.

I have alot more to tell you and want to answer your questions DS Deb. I will do this sometine this week. Just wanted to drop in and let you all know how important you are to me and how much your words of encouragement meant to me.

Love to you all, and chat again soon.

Debo

Hi all my paniac friends,
What would I do without you?
Great to hear from you Deb O.. I am so very sorry that you are in so much pain. Life has really been cruel to you lately. Hang in and write when you can.

I am exhausted and have had high pain for the last few days.... 3 hrs sleep last night and then a new kitchen floor installed today. I should be so excited but too much pain and fatigue..maybe tomorrow. lol (It does look nice and is very different than any floor I have ever had.......much more country ish.

Hope all of you have had a really nice long weekend with friends and family. I hope you enjoyed and survived your trip Chuck.

Hugs, love, and restful sleep,
DS Deb

Greetings all,
I apologize for taking so long to post, but it has been a rough recovery for me. My pain did calm
down some today and I was able to get out for a walk this am.
The museum was really something. My brother and I had a great time, we stopped at the Krispy Kreme store for a coffee and a WONDER FULL donut.
We took some great pics I'll be posting soon.
I felt goofy I couldn't figure out why no one had posted---then I remembered it's july!
On that note..I'm back to the heat pad..
chuck

Hello pain family

It's late afternoon/early evening here and I'm thankfully home with all my doggies, laying in my recliner and thinking about getting somthing to eat and get ready to lay in my O so perfect of beds. hehe

Rod made his famous wrap materials, so I'm going to heat up a tortia slightly and make a wrap. He also cooked me an ear of corn and left a note for me to have the corn and a wrap for dinner. It actually sounds really good, easy and will be filling. I'm getting pretty hungry and really glad I don't have to stand in the kitchen and try to cook anything tonight. Thank you swweeeeeetie.

My ear & rt side of my head is still hot and throbbing, but I got lucky and Helen's nurse came this am and gave me a free look see, as to how my ear drum looked, etc. Gave me some treatment advice and so I'm going to carry on with that tonight and if it does not feel better in the am, I'll call my own doc and see if I can get some abx. I've been taking some tylenol sinus allergy stuff and if I need Bt's, then I use just stait benegryl sinus tabs w/no acetamenaphen. Geesh I practically need to attend pharmacy school with Mattie, myself. Speaking of my Matthew, he told me this weekend, that he's going to take the extra courses available on pain mgt meds etc. So he can try to learn to help me with my meds, w/ suggestions and be very good at knowing what & what not, I'm supposd to do with taking all this stuff.

I had to laugh at myself this afternoon. I took my bath at sis's house this am. Then when I got out and dressed in relaxation clothes to come home. I could not figure out why my hair felt like I had put gel or something sticky in my hair????? I've been puzzled about it for most of the day. I went into our bathroom a while ago and combed my hair and while looking in the mirror at my greesy crown on my scalp, I realized that I must of been so out of it with my painful ear, neck, etc. That when I shampooed my hair in the tub, I forgot to rinse the shampoo out. and that's why my hair is so weird today. LOL What a knucklehead. LOL
Oh Well, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll get it done tomorrow. LOL

Debo; I'm so sorry to hear that your not getting much relief from your pain. Having it come back worse than before is the nightmare I seem to not ever get past myself. My heart hurts for you friend and I wish there was something I could do to help you.
Your in my thoughts daily hon and we will all just wait till your able to share with us. In the mean time, please know that we all care and are here for you anytime you need us.

Chuck; I'm so happy you enjoyed your trip. Can't wait to see the pics. I'm sure you expected the rough recovery. Atleast you got to do something fun that caused it. It's worse for me to not get to do anything fun and still have a severe recovery. The fun times make it more worth the recovery and you'll be able to remenisce for a long while on the trip you took with your brother.


The Scifi Channel just started a new program tonight, called "Warehouse 13" Teh previews looked a bit intriguing, so I'm giving it a shot this evening to see if it interests me, so I can add more variety to my viewing channels. lol

Deb; I can't wait to hear about your new flooring. I sure wish we could get new carpet and kitchen floor, or just hard wood for both?? either would make me very happy, I'm not too particular.hehe
Get some rest and I hope your pain calms down too. you need a good nights rest honey, lack of sleep is torture on high pain.

Ellie; Hows my dear doing? Getting all settled into your new home. It takes a bit to get used to a new home, neighborhood, shopping, etc. I bet it's fun though. Take Care honey and I'll yak atcha soon.

Danielle; How ya doin honey girl?? work still keeping you busy, I suspect. Is Kojax growing still? How big do you think he will get?? hopefullly not toooooo big, so you can't hold and cuddle him very good. I'm really glad our dogs are not too big. Otherwise our bed would be outa room, it's crowded as it with all four now.hehe Take Care sweetie and I hope to hear from you again some time. Busy Lady

I chatted with Mark the other day and his fiance is in the US with him. They got to spend the 4th in DC, I think that would be really cool. The poor girl was in a horrible fm flare up from the long flight and just everything, so it sounded like Mark was taking care of her. He sounded very happy and that's what we all want for each other, so I hope they have a great time here and in a month are returning to NorWay together. Exciting stuff for them both.

Well, gang
I gotta go lay down and rest, eat, etc
So I'll talk to you tomorrow
Luvs & Hugs
Betty

Good evening gang

Boy it's been a rough one here since I last posted. I went to bed Tuesday night after I posted and did not even wake up till late last night, except briefly when Rod kissed me on the forhead before leaving for work. I got up and took my meds and went back to sleep till this morning at 10am. Gosh Sis is wearing me down to a frazzle.

I did finally get myself packed up for camping and gather some needed camping gear. Rod is at boweling tonight and will stop to buy us a new mattress to sleep on, if I'm not comfy enough, then I'm going to sleep in my zero chair, as we are taking it with, so I have somewhere comfy to sit/lay in camp.

I'm not sure if I will get a chance to say good bye in the am, so I'll say it today. I'll be gone till Sunday afternoon and hopefully will feel up to saying hello. I miss you guys & gals. Talk to you all again soon.

Hugs, Love and Have a Wonderful weekend.
Betty

Morning Greetings all,
Been a couple days recovering, not too much else
going on. Except for the heat which it's even getting hotter. The heat keeps me in more than the
cold did 85-90 degrees is not good for me at all.
Thank goodness for a/c!
Betty, hope you enjoy your camping trip. That's
something I haven't done in many yearsI'll try and get back later.
Chuck

Greetings all,
Hope you're having a good friday.
Heidi and i are hangin out watching animal cops
on animal planet. I think we're goin to get some storms this afternoon, that might be interesting.
I don't know if I've mentioned it before; pain/ailments originate from my right leg/knee/foot. The last couple of weeks I've been having some pinching type pain in my left hip groin area. That's kind of what took me the doc in the first place. I have narrowing of the spinal canal and I'm thinking it may be progressing to include the left side. It's funny in a way, it feels more like a "twinge" rather than pain like on the right. If it continues I'll mention it to my doc at my next visit. I could really do with out any more problems. I hate going to and dealing with doctors, kinda funny since I have to go so much.
Anyway---
Have a good day all.
chuck

Wow, I've been a bad member of this pain group. I apologize for disappearing off the planet. The first week of July is always busy for us. My son's birthday is on the first of July. Then there is the fourth... Then our anniversary is on July 5th. In addition to all of that, my other son, Sam, came to visit for the long weekend from his base an while he was here, the cough and cold he had been dealing with for the past few weeks (yes, weeks, yes, I told him to go to the doc on base... NO, he did not listen to his mama!) Anyway, he got much worse and on the Fourth of July, I took him to urgent care. We discovered he has pneumonia in both lungs and bad ear infections in both ears. Silly soldier boy! Then, we still tried to go to the reception for a wedding of a daughter of good friends of ours. It was too late for the wedding ceremony, but we did make it to the reception. She was also one of my former first grade students. Yes, that makes me feel a little old. But it mostly makes me feel excited for her. She is going to study to become a teacher... Hmmm.... I wonder where she got that idea!

So Juan and I went to Estes Park overnight for our anniversary. We watched the fireworks up there, over the lake, and it was very fun. I was hurting pretty badly, so we watched from in the van. Juan went for a hike and took pics for me to see. I really miss hiking! But then we went bumming around the shops and walked a bit by the river. It was lovely!

Finally, we had to get our sick soldier boy back to the base. So we stayed overnight with my dad and then Juan and I took him down and dropped him off. Poor guy.

So, between all of that craziness, plus finishing one class online, starting another, tutoring my little student, dealing with my teenage Alex, plus normal day to day stuff in chronic pain.... I've been a bit overwhelmed, come to think about it.

The exciting thing is that I am very privileged to get to go visit DS Deb in Canada! Anyone else want to come? It will be nice to hang out with someone who understands pain, limitations, and we can enjoy each other's company without all the expectations of others who don't "get it." So that is something I'm really lookiing forward to!

Ok, enough about my craziness right now. Just updating anyone who is interested. It has been busy and looking back on it, I'm thinking, "No wonder I've been in more pain and had so much trouble sleeping last night!" duh...

Danielle, really hope you are doing well and that your schedule is not kicking your butt. Is your stimulator working well enough to provide the relief you need? I'm so excited for your progress!

Betty, you are really worrying me! Between your sinuses and ear and pain and everything... making you sleep for so many hours and hours. I'm concerned for you, honey bunny! Please try to take better care of yourself and if you need more time off from Helen, I hope you can find a way to take that. I'm here for you darlin!

Chuck, I want to hear more about your trip! I'm so glad you were able to go. I know your pain ramped up as a result, but isn't it worth it? We all need to do things, even if we pay for them, because we need to live! Hang in there through the heat, brother.

Deborama, it is so bad for your pain to be on the high side all the time! That just wears you out. I hope you can get good news from the doctors and can do something to provide relief. I'm glad you are here with us and that you keep in touch. We are here for you.

Ok everyone I missed... Please take care of yourselves and make sure to post when you are able.

Love you guys!

Hi, I'm 34 and have been in pain for 8 years. For me it's my thoracic back and rib area on the right side. It's undiagnosed...no one can figure out what's wrong. That's probably the hardest part...not knowing what's wrong and therefore not knowing how to fix it. I keep thinking if we could name it then we could fix it....but that's probably not true. As many of you have experienced, knowing what you have and treating it didn't make you pain-free.
I also used to have severe pelvic pain....endometriosis. I ended up having a hysterectomy this past fall and that seems to have ended the pelvic pain....for that I am grateful....though I did hope that maybe my back pain was realted to that and would end too. I guess you can't have everything you wish for!
I wish for low pain days for all of you out there....and even some pain-free moments, which I know for many of us is just a dream. Keep dreaming!!

Welcome, Lavagirl!
I agree with you that not knowing the cause is frustrating and discouraging. Thanks for sharing with the group! I hope we can offer you some encouragement and a safe place to be yourself and share your ideas, frustrations, and whatever you want to share.
Again, welcome!
ellie