I am not ill, but thanks for your loving concern.

I didn't realize that my last post on this blog gave the impression I was ill. I was attempting to show how kind and caring are the people in my life.

Actually, I am doing quite well now.

The main problem I have been fighting for the past year or more is chronic pain. Part of the problem was my primary care doctor will not prescribe any kind of pain medicine that I need. I had to resort to Extra Strength Tylenol and OTC pain medications. These can cause liver problems. For half my life I have had to use some kind of codeine product for extreme pain several times a year, but due to the over-reaction to prescribing those products, doctors refuse to do so.

My medical providers in the past knew I only used prescription medications when I absolutely needed them, and I had no problem keeping some on hand. I have tried to manage pain most of the time without using medicine. I used acupuncture, orthopedic massage, chiropractic care, physical therapy and PRP injections. But at times I have nerve pain that needs immediate intervention.

I am very encouraged at this time. After a three month wait, I finally saw a doctor who understands and is sympathetic to my dilemma. She is a pain specialist. She is smart and offered long-term cessation of one of my worst conditions. Like many, I thought a pain management center was a place where you were given steroid injections and heavy drugs to mask the symptoms.

I have to accept that I will have a drug test each time I have an appointment there. That is the new norm due to the abuse of drugs. Such a sad situation. Someone like me has to be tested like I was an addict because of all those who have bought and used drugs illegally.

Once again I realize that we have a broken health care system in this country. For decades I have sought help from neurologists, rheumatologists, orthopedists, and other doctors, but never heard the suggestions I heard from this doctor this week. With all the reading and questions I have asked, no one ever said to me, there is a simple procedure that can be done to stop Trigeminal Neuralgia. 

We, the patients, have no way of knowing there are certain doctors who know how to help us. Our family doctor often just gives us pill after pill until he runs out of ideas. I knew my pain was nerve pain so I sought neurologists to help me. But, to no avail. I was told this week that my pain doctor often teaches neurologists how to help people with migraine headaches, occipital neuralgia and other painful problems.

I can't wait to begin treatment and hopefully end my constant fear of this piercing pain which can start suddenly and will not go away. It is a determined and stubborn enemy of mine. Things are looking up.

On Wednesday, I attended Coffee with the Poets and Writers and had lunch after with some of my friends. I look forward to getting ready to drive over to Sylva, NC for A Day for Writers  on August 24 where a large group of people from four states will enjoy hearing and learning from knowledgeable and interesting instructors.

I hope I have cleared up the impression that I am ill. I appreciate the loving concern, however.

Anyone who deals with chronic pain knows it is a constant battle to keep moving and working and just enjoying life. Pain interferes with sleep and we all need sleep. That is what I have been dealing with the past year. Pain drains our energy and makes us tired or fatigued all the time. I hate that because I have so many things I like and want to do. Life is good and I am eternally grateful for my life and all I have in it.

What do you think about health care where you live? Have you had a long and difficult time dealing with the medical world?

Other posts similar to this one: https://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2018/09/nerve-pain-worst-kind-of-pain-can-it-be.html

https://profilesandpedigrees.blogspot.com/2014/08/pamper-myself-month.html

Books I'm Giving for Christmas

I imagine most writers give books as Christmas gifts. I know I do.

This year I am giving Maren Mitchell's non-fiction book, Beat Chronic Pain, An Insider's Guide. So many people I know live with chronic pain of one sort or another. I have lived with pain for years, and have tried a number of the techniques used by Maren, and found them successful. She has done the research for those who deal with daily pain and presents the results in her book. Go to Amazon.com to order it.

I am also giving a delightful memoir by Nadine Justice, I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter, But I Cain't Sang. This author writes with humor and with authenticity. Poppy George, her grandfather really did ride his horse into the church and up to the altar. She discovered her Aunt Becky's store in a little town in Turkey where she lived for several years. 

To order copies of this memoir, email: nadine@unitedwriterspress.com
I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter, But I Cain't Sang
by Nadine Justice
United Writers Press
ISBN 978-1-934216-83-5

I will give the latest anthology edited by Robert S. King and published by FutureCycle Press, American Society:

What Poets See. I am impressed by the quality of work in this book which deserves accolades and I plan to write a review of it and hope others will take the time to do the same. Read the excellent review on Amazon.com.

I dearly love For One Who Knows How to Own Land, poetry collection by Scott Owens. I will likely leave this in someones's stocking as well. 

My friend, Celia Miles, has a new book that will be out soon,  Sarranda's Heart, that is a sequel to Sarranda. Both books are historical fiction and women’s fiction—novels of a strong woman enduring and surviving the cruelties behind the battlefields, the home scene during devastatingly hard times of defeat and afterwards. Readers of Sarranda say they can't wait to read Sarranda's Heart. Give a copy of Sarranda this Christmas and follow with the sequel next year.

I recommend my poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then, and the anthology, On our Own, Widowhood for Smarties, which anyone will find to be eye-opening and should read even if they have not met yet with grieving the loss of a spouse or child. Read this anthology and be prepared.

What books are on your gift list? Which are on your wish list?