FINALLY MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO MYSELF, Had it since before I fell on Dec. 13th, and my two new rugs, office and living room & now it is looking Much better around here.

Finally, NEW RUGS, My Office back together, my new sofa/chaise/futon in and OUT with the funky sofa, and new rug in place also... have had the sofa in my hallway, since BEFORE I FELL ON DECEMBER 13TH, sitting in boxes, for my "Christmas present" to myself.... so finally with the help of my son, we got the living room put back together... the sofa is a grayish/blue i guess...

It goes well when you see it, in person... and I am so PROUD to have it all in order and now I hope to go get my new puppy, well he will be about 5 or more months old... but I wanted to get the old sofa, and both rugs out, and be able to get everything in place before bringing a new puppy in....

so I think although I still have LOTS of work to do around here, I now at least have this part finished!

 Of course my pup Peanut in the way when I try to take pics... he is a "ham" when it comes to getting his photo made..

Talking about our own Advocacy work, activism, the GOOD you TRULY DO, & What makes "us tick" - all of us differ one to the other... and Chronic Illnesses and pain can create and reek havoc on us, as well as age....

I have a "surprise" for everyone, but I wanted to wait until our newspaper publishes it here locally, then I will post it on Facebook, in my personal newspaper and on my blog. I have a "Press Release" from a project, that is really a vital program for research in many different realms of chronic illnesses and/or pain. I've participated two times so far, after they "found" me. 

The 1st time, I guess we did not do a news release, but they have this time. I was so thrilled about it, because I always have to sign a NDA (non-disclosure affidavit) each year they ask me to do my part. I want to share it, not just because if it being "me" but MORE to show ALL OF YOU, HOW YOUR INPUT, YOUR ADVOCACY, WHETHER ONLINE, emails, a blog, Facebook, Twitter, or however you may help out when it comes to activism DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I've done advocacy and activist items now for about 5 years, for different organizations and in different realms. Some of them, really in depth, like getting to go to Congress in Washington DC with the Arthritis Foundation, or posting blog articles, or my Facebook things that I read, post, and try to help provide viable and possible solutions for so many of us, that truly need to be helped, whether through knowledge (which believe me KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OWN HEALTH, ILLNESSES, PHYSICIANS, SURGERIES, and all types of medical needs we step into during life.) I found out that although "some doctors do not like "educated" patients' MANY OF THEM are extremely happy to see patients taking an initiative to reach out, look for answers, make lists, ask questions, and not sit back and just rely on what our physicians tell us. 

LIFE and PATIENTS are too many and too busy, and our medical people NEED us to know all we can... so it saves lives, even our own. If you KNOW your medications, what you take, what you are allergic to, or have an idea about all of your medical issues, your surgeries and symptoms that are due to either a chronic medical illness such as RA or Lupus. Or if you are diabetic, you KNOW your own body, what you CAN eat, how to keep your blood sugar evened out, or other medications, know the side effects, understand when you NEED to call your doctor, OR when that side effect may not HURT you or even after a few days go away, rather than trying to call a doctor's office, and either stop the medication or go on taking it when something may not be right about it. I can almost go in when one of my joints, or my spine, or my muscles, or tendons (since MUSCLES CAN BE TIGHTENED BY EXERCISE) and TENDONS HAVE TO BE SURGICALLY REPAIRED OFTEN TIMES BECAUSE THEY DO NOT GET TIGHT AGAIN, LIKE A MUSCLE MIGHT...

That is why when you have a "torn rotator cuff" in a shoulder, you "may" strengthen the muscles, but if those "tendons" that make up the rotator cuff are too lax, or torn completely away from the bone itself, surgery may be the only option to get back mobility, strength, get rid of pain or much of it, and then strengthen the muscles after the tendons are repaired. You would be shocked and I know even ...

I recently began to totally "understand" the true difference between tendons and muscles. I "asked" the question, and my foot specialist explained it to me... like a rubber band may "stretch" like a muscle... but if it is attached to a board, and you actually tear it away from that board, no amount of exercise will give you back the loss from a tear. I now also realize WHY when someone TEARS TENDONS in their foot, or leg, it takes MONTHS AND MONTHS EVEN WITH SURGERY, to get that tendon "healed". It has to "attach" back to that bone. So, like my shoulders, or my left elbow the "severe tennis elbow" I had was "torn" away from the bone. My orthopedic surgeon attached the tendons back to my bones, with screws, nuts etc... BUT it took a long time for that tendon to actually "grow itself" back to the elbow, and often times, they don't attach back themselves, that is why, so often you never can do some of what you did with that shoulder, elbow, ankle, and so forth as you could at one time.

Before I broke the hip, I had just about made up my mind to try and snow ski one more time in my life. That used to be my "birthday present" the week of my birthday for many years.... but after the replaced knees, and the shoulder replacement, I felt maybe I should not chance "wrecking" one of them again. But, I had decided I would give it a try once more... and thought about making a trip to Santa Fe NM, I've skied there as well as Wolf Creek Pass that I LOVED! 

But Santa Fe has lots of new courses, and much more to offer than they once did, and it is about 7 hours closer than Pagosa Springs, CO where you stay to ski Wolf Creek. But, once the hip was fractured, I then knew there would be no way I would try to ski... not really because of the break of the hip BUT a fear now since my bones are so severely taken away with osteoporosis, my fear would be to "break" more bones, or another hip, or injure my back worse, thus my days of skiing are over with. I have great memories... and in fact yesterday when I was going through looking for the photo's with the fish, deer etc... I started to scan a pic of me, when the "big hair" craze was in... Gosh I wished I still looked that young.... ;) Alas time has become somewhat of an enemy when it comes to skin, aging, and how our lines, wrinkles and so forth seem to develop out of nowhere.....

I was given a "press release" that I am very proud of ;)m- Goes to show ANY Advocacy Work is well worth doing especially for Chronic Pain and Illnesses

I've really been down and out lately at the numbers that are coming to my blog. Used to I would have at least 75-100 and sometimes 300 or over. But, over the past 4 months, even before I went into the hospital I noticed a huge drop in those coming to my blog.

I know "Google" have changed a great deal of their SEO stuff, BUT, I have many of their ideas and recommendations that I use. I've not went through the entire "book" of recommendations, BUT, I usually post everyday, sometimes more than once. I do miss sometimes, such as when I was "out of pocket" due to the hip fracture, but even then I still posted once I was feeling a bit better and had my laptop to post to all of my social media places.

The one thing that I have not done "much" and continue to try and not do, is get too deep into the "political" issues that are invading our lives DAILY! I know many are like myself and HOPED that AFTER THE ELECTION some of the DAILY CRAP WOULD STOP!

Well, I should have known much better than that. With the "Donald Duck" elected LOL, there is NO way to SHUT HIM UP NOR the NEWS. Everything he does, tweets, says, posts, and probably what he eats for his 3 meals a day are NOW LARGER ISSUES ON THE NEWS, THAN THE ELECTION!!!!!

I am SICK TO the point of NAUSEA hearing about "The Duck" this, that and the other.... I cannot even "type his name" it makes me so ill to see or hear about one damned thing he does.

I was a "voter" and I've voted for many years, without missing many. Of course I feel if we "vote" then we do have a right to GRIPE! But, for those WHO DO NOT VOTE, then you do not have the RIGHT TO FUSS because you did not allow YOUR VOICE TO BE HEARD!


I KNOW that my "typical" daily life may not interest you. thus I "try" my best, to put something useful, fun, information that you can use, new items from The Arthritis Foundation, to WEGO, to other health and human information especially for us that remain all too ill, from Chronic Pain and/or illnesses.

I am HAPPY that although I had TWO HIP FRACTURES, now in 3 days it will be 90 days since that 1st surgery, and I am doing very well. Even without a cane, and in fact, I left it at home yesterday and did not even take it with me.

I realize at times, I am still leery about being almost too cautious, in fear that another fall could even be worse. I also am in fear that if I don't try and do all I can to "never cure" the osteoporosis, BUT try and build "muscle" and "put protein" back into my body, I have a far better chance of not being a "fall victim".

The woman that was in the room at the Rehab place with me for part of the time, had already been in the hospital like 3 times BEFORE CHRISTMAS, IN LIKE 3 MONTHS! She had pneumonia a couple of times and was put in for that. She has also been a "Diabetes 1" victim since being a teenager, which I watched even after all these years, especially without a proper diet like she should have had in Rehab, she was always having way too many problems with her Diabetes. Then she had fallen and been in Rehab before Christmas I guess in August or September, then fell broke her pelvis, WHICH SURGERY OFTEN CANNOT REPAIR A BROKEN PELVIS, thus you have to spend WEEKS AND WEEKS IN BED TO ALLOW IT TO HEAL ON ITS OWN! Her pain had to be horrible. I know HOW MUCH PAIN I WAS IN WITH THE FRACTURES TO MY HIP, and I was yelling, screaming, cussing, bitching, crying and my entire neighborhood probably thought someone was attacking me, or I had just lost the rest of my mind. MANY of them came when they saw my son's vehicle here to ask what happened, that I was SCREAMING AND CRYING SO MUCH, they could not imagine what had happened. No one I guess heard me screaming and yelling and crying, while I was still in the house for over 3 hours, being too stubborn to call the ambulance. I "hoped" I had a "bad bruise" NOT a damned brake to my hip. But, alas dammit the news was worse, because I had TWO breaks in it.

I cannot begin to even express "ALL I LOST" in those weeks and weeks, through the surgery, through being an inpatient in a Rehab Center, from my own self-esteem, pride, I felt unworthy, useless, a burden, and just a totally screwed up person to be going through this and making my kids go through this also.

LOTS played into my issues with the entire thing, because of losing Mom to Lewy Bodies Dementia in June of last year, and having to take care of her, the 6 months prior, I was already more than behind on "caring for me"... I cancelled neck surgery at least 4 times, and just put my RA medication on hold, since I just felt I COULD NOT leave and go to Dallas for a few hours.

I AM STILL trying to "clean up" everything that needs to be done, and actually am totally confused, because I feel I did not "grieve" enough before trying to begin taking care of other affairs once she past away, that now I get to a place I am not sure what, what not, which, how, is done, not done, and my own "Christmas Present" to myself, is still sitting in my hallway, along with the new rug for my living room. But, now with the hip thing, I fear trying to turn the old sofa over in order to get the backs off of it. That is what has to be done, before it can be taken out of the house. Once that is gone, I can once again clean the hardwood floor very well, put the rug down and get my new sofa/futon/chaise lounge finally put up and using it.

So, NO the political issues I speak of are usually tied into "medical things".... whether clinical trials, or laws, or trying to get the government to fund certain research projects, and so forth, my "own personal beliefs" in whom should be or not be President, and so on down the agenda, I feel I did my part, I can now bitch all I want, AND then go on with my life and pray we have NO ALLIES by the time one YEAR has gone by with the "Donald Duck"....



P.S. I WILL POST THAT PRESS RELEASE AS SOON AS MY NEWSPAPER PUTS IT OUT.

"Information" I heard from a friend, that I thought I would "share" BUT I am NOT saying this is true... about our Governor of Texas.

I found out an interesting fact about our Texas Governor. I guess I've been so busy and really not into much of what is happening here, there and yonder, that I also know why I didn't know that he is in a wheelchair, and has been after a tree fell on him years and years ago. After a friend of mine telling me about it, I went to his website, and to his Facebook page and noticed they never show many of his photo's where he would have to be "standing" and even the ones sitting down, usually you can't tell he is in a wheelchair. 

Now, I have not found out about this for sure, but I do know of course for a long while after the accident, of course he was on pain medications. I will not say for sure, but I gathered he probably still suffers pain from that injury due to arthritis, and of course something such as that, the older you get it tends to give you issues with stiffness, pain, and as I said arthritic issues. 

I say this because as I said I have not read it with my own eyes, but he has in his own way "taken up" for those of us with chronic pain that must take prescription medications. Us that truly are under a legitimate physician's care, and taking our meds as we should. Anyway, I waited a couple of days before putting this here, as I surely DO NOT want anyone to think I am saying it for sure. As I said, this came from a friend, and as far as reading he "said" anything for sure, I have not came across it, BUT we also know for the most part WE CANNOT TRUST OUR NEWS anymore. They will "say" and "tell us" what THEY can get headlines, and "sensationalize" stories for their own monetary and ratings gain. Thus with all of the "negative" crap about pain medications on the news everywhere now, they probably would NOT come out and say something knowing how they are. It may "hurt" their ratings or piss some of their "ties" to who know what off.... Rhia

The things I shared about the tree falling on him etc. is true. You can read about that online and the story about how it all came about.

But, as far as this about pain medications, I am NOT stating that I saw it, read it, etc... I have tried to look a bit, but not that it really matters, although having "someone" on our side, that KNOWS what we deal with as far as chronic pain, would be a nice change, other than being put down for "being dope heads" or "addicts" or that we are a bunch of "liars" and so forth.

As I said I am NOT happy with the news, any of it.. I don't believe half of what I read or see, because they want those ratings, and those millions of viewers, and all of the revenue from commercials etc. 

I just thought it was a bit interesting, and IF someone does KNOW of where there is an article or something that Governor Abbott did say, I would like to know about it. 

MORE BULL FROM OUR HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES (managed care bull) & spending OUR money on something silly rather than pay CLAIMS BETTER!

I've just about had it with Humana... they called my house at least 15 times while I was in the hospital. they can find MORE WAYS to spend our premiums and waste the money rather than pay our bills better. Now they have this "stupid program" for some of us. where they want to have a so-called "nurse" come into your home, and try and tell you how to run your life basically. After I came home, it was only a few days, and I got a call from them. Telling me this "nurse" would call and set up an appt. to see me.


Well, in the 1st place I DO NOT NEED any of their so-called snooping people coming to my house. I understand for those who may not take medications properly, or elderly and may not go to their doctors right, or not eat properly and so forth. For those, it may be a good thing. But, as for myself, I've just gotten home, my house is a "wreck" because I was right in the middle of taking out a couple of my older large area rugs from my living room and office, and ordered new ones. Then I had ordered a "new sofa" which was here before I fell, it is still sitting in the box, in my hallway.

But, I needed to get the old rugs out, get the floors and stuff cleaned, put in the new rugs, and then put in the new sofa-like type of futon I bought. BUT, I TOLD THEM DO NOT TRY AND HAVE SOMEONE COME BY FOR AT LEAST A MONTH!! I EXPLAINED I JUST cam home, my house was a mess of course with me being out for almost 6 weeks or so. I needed to get myself and my home in order so I would feel much better, and knew I would have follow up doctors appts, and now PT on my foot etc... BUT, THIS WITCH began calling me almost immediately. And she CANNOT get it through her THICK SKULL FIRST OF ALL, I DO NOT need them in my home. It is upsetting for me, especially with my house not in order yet, AMAZON LOST MY RUG FOR THE OFFICE! It should have been here ON MONDAY! THEY TRIED TO SHIP A DANGED 8 1/2 FOOT x 10 FOOT RUG through the POST OFFICE! So, I KNEW it would not get here. SURE ENOUGH, 1ST IT WAS DELAYED. I GOT so upset that I sent them an email chewing them out, because I just DECIDED TO TAKE THEIR PRIME SHIPPING FOR A MONTH, AND the 2nd thing I order THEY LOSE!

So, NOW my office is torn apart, stuff sitting everywhere, because until the rug comes in I cannot put stuff back and get it on my desk, and weigh it down, then I would never get the rug in how it needs to be. It's been this way now all week long, and supposedly the rug is coming in tomorrow on Saturday via UPS! HOW it should have been sent in the FIRST PLACE!! ANYWAY, this woman will not listen. I asked her to leave me alone, until after the 1st of March, so I can get my home in order, I am going to have to go to outpt PT on my foot a couple of times a week, and I am trying to get things all in order for the new puppy, before I bring him home. BUT oh hell no!

She is just insistent that by golly she needs to come NOW! So, I told her to leave me alone and again she insists on coming THIS MORNING, MY DAY I PAY BILLS, at 10AM! I swear I feel like not even answering the door! this is ridiculous! I went through this with them a couple of years ago, and told them off then. They wanted my pharmacist who had been filling my medications the same person for years to have me COME IN and "check my" medications! Well hell, for what??? He checks everything out each time he fills them!!! BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE GET MONEY FROM HUMANA FOR BUGGING US ABOUT CRAP THEY SHOULD KEEP THEIR NOSES OUT OF! LOL!!! I told my son that I may go to jail today, because I may push the witch off my front porch... of course I am kidding, but damned why drive people nuts SO THEY CAN MAKE MONEY, JUST LIKE SALES PEOPLE OFF OF US RATHER THAN PAY MORE ON OUR CLAIMS!!!

The TRUTH on Pain Medications, Legitimate Pain Patients and their doctors, and the horrid accusations that others sensationalize that harm true chronic pain patients.

MAD IN AMERICA 

SCIENCE,PSYCHIATRY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE*

 AN ARTICLE ONLINE BY THE ABOVE!


This article RINGS SO TRUE! It is NOT Pain Patients who are legitimate and see their doctors, take their meds as prescribed and do all of the other things our doctors request. BUT, we NEED to be vigilant! 

 l locked away, just in case. I KNOW that ALL OF US who are truly CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS, that DO need our medications, or we would be stuck at home, on the sofa, unable to do many things that with our proper doses and doing what our legitimate physicians tell us, we can have a "quality of life"... as I have said, if I had no pain, or it was manageable WITHOUT the medications, 

I would gladly get rid of them. But, I have way too many chronically pain illnesses and problems, that I have even had surgery on, yet that does not "fix" everything. Even with a broken hip, I was off the stronger meds in about 3 days and back to my "regular" doses once the hip was repaired, the hematoma taken out, and now I face what probably "caused" or at least had a probable reason for my fall. 

My right foot and ankle have been badly sprained. So, bad that I've had it X-Rayed 3 times because I could not even put it on the ground at first. I have some issues after 3 severe sprains, and being extremely flat-footed, and as we age, we become more flat-footed, that and the loose tendons and ligaments and probably torn are causing that foot to be extremely "unstable" as the foot specialist told me on Tuesday. My hip is actually quite stable, but that foot wants to "roll" with me, it hurts and swells like a grapefruit if I walk on it for too long or stand. So, I've gotten a corticosteroid injection in it, which hopefully will help some starting today, it takes about 3 days for those injections to begin to work, I start PT on it next week, and I now have special inserts in my shoes to help to stabilize that foot and ankle. It could be all of these fail and if so I may face yet another surgery to repair those torn tendons and ligaments in order to help stop the problems. But, IT HURTS! Just another reason my medications are crucial to my daily abilities to take care of my home, myself, and the things we "normally" do in our daily lives to have that "quality of life" as much as possible. 

Even with the RA medications, my wrists and hands, fingers are in terrible shape, and it hurts like hell to even sit very long and type.... so you NEVER get OUT OF PAIN totally... but the medications are designed to make the pain tolerable where you can do the things you need and want to do in your life.

https://www.madinamerica.com/2016/05/stop-the-war-on-chronic-pain-patients/

Extremely Important Announcment from the NIH in regard to aiding to put (MS) Multiple Sclerosis in Long Term Remission

Although I put in this on the top of my newspaper this morning, I felt this is a VERY Important announcement for ALL with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) !! by the NIH (National Institutes of Health)....



https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/stem-cell-transplants-may-induce-long-term-remission-multiple-sclerosis



 

 

These types of ground breaking events could also lead to putting other types of (AI) autoimmune illnesses in Long Term Remission!!!