Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Getting the most Quality Time out of A Doctor's Visit

There are many of us that feel when we see our doctors we are hurried through a visit, don't get to discuss all we wanted to, or get out of the office and remember you have questions that did not get answered and so forth. It seems all of our physicians now are "overbooked" and "under staffed", or they just stretch themselves too "thin", thus we don't get the undivided attention we want and should have when visiting our doctors office. Here is an article about how to make the most out of your doctors visit.

Before I post it, I wanted to give you a few of my tips, even before I read the information. :) I ALWAYS go in with a LIST! I first of all, carry lists of my current medications, my current doctors with phone numbers, addresses, and FAX numbers. I carry a list of EVERYTHING I want to speak to the doctor about, questions, concerns, symptoms, side effects of medications, new things I have read online and so forth. If this is a doctor I don't see very often, I start my list even a week before the appointment. That way I have time to "remember" all of those questions and/or comments I had been thinking about since the last visit. With the age of the internet, if I read an article, see a new medication online, or see anything I think maybe pertinent to my office visit, I print it to take with me. They may not have time to read it then, but it is there to scan over and possibly hold answers for you when they have time to read it. IF the visit is with a brand NEW physician I check to see if they have a website where I can download the new patient information to fill out and take with me. This saves a load of time for you and for the doctor's staff, and the physician. That may lead into giving you more time with the doctor, rather than filling out paperwork in the waiting area. If they don't have a website, and the appointment maybe a month away or more, I ask them if they can mail me the information so I can fill it out ahead of time. If you have had new "procedures", tests and so forth, take copies of those results with you, if possible. I try to get a copy of everything I have done to keep in a file at home. I scan them into my computer, and keep a file on my desktop. Then all I have to do, is print it, update medications and so forth. This saves YOU lots of time hunting for results, or having to wait until the doctor requests the information, thus holding back a possibly diagnosis, or them wanting you to have the test again, and so forth. Now I will post this page about their tips... I will see how closely they are to my way of trying to make quality time with my physicians or what they may also advise...

http://www.lupus.org/blog/entry/getting-the-most-from-your-doctors-appointment?utm_source=Newsletter+10-22-13&utm_campaign=Newsletter+10-22-13&utm_medium=email

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Recovery - Life long Process

I know some ill think this has nothing to do with Autoimmune Arthritis or Chronic Pain and Chronic illnesses but I know from speaking to many, that at one time or the other they used the "addiction" to squelch the pain... whether physical, emotional or mental... it "dampened" the hurt... thus this does hit home for many...


 Here is the link to the entire website and its information:

http://blog.stjosephinstitute.com/how-long-to-change/

Due to a very personal friend of mine coming to grips with the realms of an "addict" of pills (I HATE the word ADDICT but I know that really is the term no matter how WE outside the situation feels about it. So, I have also recently found out there are several of my close friends on Facebook  that have dealt with recovery and now sobriety for years. Which I commend them highly! After reading this I felt the need to put it out there, for I feel there are many of us that honestly don't know someone who can be very close to us, and addict or alcoholic, and we not know. I am so proud of this person who has been "clean" now for 6 weeks. I am trying to understand the whole thing, from why the addiction, and why "recovery" honestly is a life long process. And I know where there must be especially spouses, man or wife that would not be able to "walk" that sobriety "walk " no matter how much love you feel. It just like some of us that so "chronically ill"( of which I think of and addiction of any type to be a "chronic illness") just like a diabetic or we are... we have those that their spouse cannot deal with the chronic illnesses and they must go... even if love is there sometimes people are just not that strong.... So,  post this for those who are recovering, those that have a spouse who is trying to recover, even more for the ones that need their spouse of family member to realize their problem and take that first step...  my heart and prayers are with you and my hopes are that even though that "craving" may never truly disappear completely, may you find your life is more life now full and more "normal" than when you used those "wrong tools" to aid you to get through emotions that can be very difficult..  I hope this post may help someone else...

Along the Lines of FM and Chronic Pain More Exciting News also...

This is such a wonderful thing that is happening also. This one about the realms of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain.

Here is the first part of the letter I received and you can read the rest at the  URL below:

Dear American Pain Foundation Constituent,

Recently the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association (NFMCPA) inherited the good works of the American Pain Foundation. The NFMCPA is a 501c3 charitable and nonprofit organization focused on fibromyalgia and chronic pain conditions...
                          more here:  http://www.fmcpaware.org/

Lots of Exciting News on the Homefront of Autoimmune Arthritis, including Lupus!

I have just been bowled over by the amount of research, and now clinical trials on the Lupus home front. There are some very positive things about the latest medication be tested, which is "Lupuzor". In the Phase 2 clinical trial improvements with arthritic symptoms, as well as skin rash in two thirds of the patients! So, the FDA has given the "thumbs" up on the next Clinical Trial Stage... Here is the story...

http://lupusresearchinstitute.org/lupus-news/13/10/15/positive-results-clinical-trial-testing-lupuzor?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lrinews+%28Latest+News+from+the+Lupus+Research+Institute%29

It's amazing to see us move from the very first "Lupus" medication Benlysta, and now we have several being tested. Thanks to so much grant money, and those out there doing the research, we are really making progress to find medications to at the very least halt some of the symptoms.

We also have even more news in the realms of research and a "genetic" link to as to why are antibodies do as they do in the Lupus illness. Two of the researchers has been making headway by leaps and bounds in the position of giving Lupus patients a more "personalized" way of treating them, along with more information These are both ground breaking scenarios and they both have won the award for 2013 Distinguished Innovators Awards Support Large-scale Novel Studies to Find Root Causes that Can Drive to a Cure. 

These are the two 2013 award recipients are David Tarlinton, PhD at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia and Kenneth Smith, MD, PhD of University of Cambridge, Great Britain.

Here is a link to their further research that may change the face of Lupus forever...

http://lupusresearchinstitute.org/node/1691?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lrinews+%28Latest+News+from+the+Lupus+Research+Institute%29





Bear With Me - Sometimes The Brain Fog is More than I know...

LOL!!! I have to laugh at myself. As much as I know about e-mail, web sites, URL's, design, development, and all about anything internet wise... I just learned something "new" to me.  I have honestly "Not" learned all about "Google" + and the circles, groups and so forth as I should have. I began using Google" mainly due to wanting to start a blog. Rather than continue to post so much about the Realms of Autoimmune Arthritis, and Chronic pain issues on Facebook; I wanted to "blog" it and give a wide array over the world a chance to view what I write about. I know I can do that on FB, but I just feel a blog is much more "personal". Thus I began using "Blogger" several years back. Well, then of course I figured out there was "gmail" and I set up an account. It never dawned on me that it being an
email account, meant that all of the "comments", posts etc. on "Blogger" would go to that email address, until this morning!! All this time I have been "manually" going to my blog and viewing answering, comments etc. Well idiot me, "I am just a tad bit slow" ..... finally had an amazing brain happening, and it dawned in the light that everything was going to an email address THAT I NEVER LOOK AT!!! So, I really hate to admit something so ridiculously stupid on my part. But, for me an "Email" address was not what I was looking for back then, it was a "blog" that suited my needs. Now I kind of think I wished I would have done a "Word Press" blog, but I figure they are all about the same. I just hear a great deal about Word Press and wonder why the ordeal is about it.

Anyway, I truly belive I need to "update" my own "mind" about Google" circles, and remember to check my email here OR send it to one of my other email addresses so that I KNOW when I get posts etc...

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

One Line A Day!!! Lupus...

                                     Please Help Spread The word!!!!


                                         Alliance for Lupus Research 

                                                    ALR.org