Lissabird Makes Good: I think I can, I think I can...

Friday, October 24, 2008

I think I can, I think I can...

I'm terribly afraid that I have nothing to say. I suppose we'll find out, huh?

I could rant about trying to publish my book. It seems like the dumb book is all I can talk about in person. Now my friends, you can treat yourselves to a healthy dose online too. I know I am selfless. I live to please.

I could talk about pain... I don't know that I have a lot to say about it. I've had chronic pain for 19 years, and I hardly breathe a word about it. I have decided that I am not doing myself or anyone else any favors. Perhaps someone else can learn from my experiences, so I will do my best to write about them. Maybe even I will learn from them.

Of course I could just talk about Rosie, Lander, Steve and the rest of the fam. This could be a one-stop Lander gossip tell all. But there's rarely any gossip, so don't get too excited.

See- I've said nothing at all, but I have filled up this little box. I will take my vague sense of accomplishment and run (figuratively, of course.)

2 comments:

Menner said...: You'll be surprised at the things you find to write about when you just start doing it on a regular basis. I go in spurts. When I started my blog I thought I didn't have anything to say either. And I still don't. So I just post about my daughter, or things that annoy me, or whatever it is I'm doing or thinking about. Keep it up. It's a great outlet.; October 25, 2008 at 10:05 AM
CrazyMonkeyHouse said...: I agree with Maren. After a while, it just comes naturally. Both David and I contribute to the blog. We'll post about day trips, receipes, photos, travels, day to day gripes, or singing goats.

It's really addicting once you get a site tracker and realize that people are actually reading your stuff regularly.

You'll dig it, whatever you may have to say!; October 25, 2008 at 4:47 PM

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Who am I?

I have lived with Chronic Pain for 20 years-- that's two thirds of my life. I have RSD/CRPS in my left foot as a result of an auto/pedestrian accident when I was 10 years old. RSD has been called one of the most painful diseases out there, and the stress of it on my growing body caused a whole host of new problems. After a few years, pain took over every inch of me.

A few years ago, I decided to look at my health (or lack there of) from a whole new perspective. Whole, being the operative word-- whole body and mind. I have resisted the idea of the mind/body connection because, to me, that meant the pain was somehow in my head. But I have come to realize that of course stress would affect my overall health and my pain level.

So I decided to face the greatest source of stress in my life, even though it had been one of my most closely guarded secrets: mental illness devoured the last recognizable shreds of my mother's personality when I was a teen. I didn't know what was happening, and I worried that it was somehow my fault (because she told me it was). We didn't really have the internet back then (Yep. Feeling old-- and loving it!) and mental illness is one the last taboos to fall, so I was pathetically alone in my attempt to understand my life. This is my shout out to anyone else stuck in a similar situation. Life can get better, but you have to take care of yourself first.

My mom eventually did take her life-- a few weeks before I found out that I was pregnant. Suddenly, I found myself facing motherhood, and feeling slightly less than ready for the task. So I started writing. I wrote about my mom. I wrote about living in pain. Then the two began to intertwine in ways I had never let myself consider. It was an amazing experience.

Once the mess in my head was a little more organized, I went back to the doctors to learn all that I could about what happened to my body. I read the research myself, I did everything I could think of to break the pain cycle long enough to let my nervous system reset. Regular massage and chiropractic appointments lowered my pain levels on their own, but on top of that I did yoga, walked regularly, and took a laundry list of supplements and natural remedies. (Most effective: Fibro Response by Source Naturals: Magnesium, B and D complexes, MSM and Apple Cider Vinegar) Check out the Body Project Tag to see what I did.

I still have RSD/CRPS in my foot and I always will. But I learned to separate that from the pain I felt in my other limbs, back and face. I have determined that it was all a giant breakdown of my body's natural cycle and ability to process pain signals caused by the RSD, and the stress of losing my mother. This breakdown is sometimes called Central Sensitization Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. The way I thought about the pain went from it being a horrible disease that would never go away, to being an interruption that I could correct.

I'm working on it.

Friday, October 24, 2008

I think I can, I think I can...

2 comments:

Who am I?

me and the hubs

Rosabella Eliza Alice

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