Sunday is for Catching Up...

RSD/CRPS Awareness Month &
Health Blogger Challenge
Posts for November 1, 2 & 3!

So here we go! It's a late start to these November challenges, but better late than never, and after all, Sunday is for catching up, sometimes...

November 1

A Day in My Life Photo Challenge for 30 Days of RSD/CRPS Awareness - Day 1

Here's me. This is meant to be a pic of me today, and in some ways, it truly is. Though I do hope and believe that I have changed and grown through the experiences of my life, I also believe that at the core of me, I am still precisely who I was at age 2. Ironically, the one of the only photos I have of me at that age is this one, in which I am still wearing the bracelet from my most recent hospital admission and being tormented (in this case by a sibling). Although medical experiences and a certain degree of torment have been all too common elements of my life, this is not quite what I mean...

I have, I am told, an abnormally acute memory; I remember quite clearly how I felt at that age. I believed in the basic goodness of people; in fact I believed that people were almost as nice as animals! I believed that apples should be crunchy and preferably green. I believed it was important to be kind to both people and animals, I believed in fairness, that hurt creatures should be cared for, that crayons, kaleidoscopes, etch-a-sketch, most rocks, all twisty, curvy sticks and seashells of any description contained the most powerful magick, and I believed quite equally (fairly enough) in Santa Clause, my grandparents, the angels and the fae.

So though some days, as a grown up, some of my beliefs have been tempered,(for example, I frequently wonder just how close to "as nice as animals" people actually manage to get, as a species), most of my core beliefs remain. So, this is me. I have RSD. I look forward to getting to know you.

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wego Health:  30 Days, 30 Posts for National Health Blog Post Month

Favorite Fridays
Tell us what your favorite health apps are and how people can find them.

- Ooops. Being a bit of a techno-idiot. I have none, so I must decline this question. My wonderful new laptop has a starter screen full of apps that I just can't relate to, so I had to ask my techno-genius son, Nick to "please, make them go away" so I could function. Embarassing? Yeah, a wee bit....

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November 2

A Day in My Life Photo Challenge for 30 Days of RSD/CRPS Awareness - Day 2

My son, Nick; my husband, Terry, & my daughter, Naomi

My pals & nurse-dogs, bright Sunshine & sweet Solomon.

Here's a picture of the people I choose to spend most of my (physical) time with; my family. Why?  Because these very loveable people (both the 2 and 4 legged) love me back, despite what a pain in the backside I am (or more often my body is). Because they keep wanting me to keep on battling to be here. Because they are smart and kind and loyal and funny and worth the struggle. Because they are life and breath to me. Because we share so many hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Because we laugh at the same things, and love so very many of the same things, despite how very different and distinctly each ourselves alone we are...  Because we are more than the sum of our parts. Because we belong together.

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wego Health:  30 Days, 30 Posts for National Health Blog Post Month

Little Engine Post

I love this photo, since it illustrates not only all those "Little Engine That Could" days that we all strive for, but those now and again "Little Engine That Can't Get There Today and Don't Try That Cheerful Crap With Me" days, too. (I think most of my fellow beast tamers know just what I mean... )

Write 3 lines that start with “I think I can…”

I think I can achieve remission, or something close to it, if I have the chance to implement all of my treatment and self-treatment ideals.

I think I can paint again, and that my work will again be of merit; worth the pain it now causes .

I think I can survive long enough and stay sharp enough to finish writing a book that will be a definitive and badly needed guide to holistic home care for those in chronic pain, both from RSD/CRPS and from other diseases.

Then write 3 lines that start with “I know I can…”

I know I can be more well than I am now, even with only the tools that I have now, and more so if I am able to implement more of my treatment and self-treatment ideals.

I know that I can achieve a higher level of functioning, including doing more and more able painting and other creative efforts.

I know that in my remaining years, I can be of use to others who have been diagnosed with this disease, or with chronic pain of any kind; through my life, through my blog, through my interaction with the RSD/CRPS, chronic pain & chronic illness community, and perhaps, with a little bit of luck, through my book.

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November 3

A Day in My Life Photo Challenge for 30 Days of RSD/CRPS Awareness - Day 3

Picture(s) of the ways I cope with pain.

Here are a few of my pain management tools. Yup, there's the meds. And the timer and daily pill organizer so I don't mess up.  Also herbal tinctures, topical magnesium spray, castor oil, homeopathics, the acupressure chart we use in daily acupressure routines, my Sonicare toothbrush which acts as a nerve stimulation device for facial pain, a cup of tea (of course!) and some pain distraction friends; a kaliedescope, a wonderful comforting witty book (this one has the double bonus of being by one of my most favourite authours in the world, and being a gift from one of my most favourite friends in the world), and the disk for that alternate world where (thanks to my modding son, Nick) I am oh, so excessively able, Skyrim (that will also have to represent my faithful laptop, which I didn't have room to include). All this beside my comforting recliner with the lift capability (which was donated by the red cross, and which Terry, Naomi and I painstakinglly refinished from its original aged and rotty ugly barbie-doll smoke-stinky pink and yucky foam with organic wool and cotton stuffing and pretty rose covered fabric ) and, last but not least, one of my main snugglers, Sunshine. (Solly wanted to be in the picture too, but he's a big boy and there wasn't room in the chair!)It's a multi-pronged approach and then some!

Here is my wonderful big bath tub and magic lift (which helps me not to have to worry about breaking my family's backs). In this tub, (a magnificent gift from my mother), I can stretch out full length and be touched by nothing but water; so indescribably relieving for those days when all contact with the world equals pain pain pain. I do much of my daily physio in the tub, especially when the weather means I can't get out, using pool noodles, wahcloths, and other tools. I soak in a mix of magnesium oxide, sea salt, soda, & zinc oxide to help ease pain and muscle spasms and aid nuerotransmission. My sweet Terry built me a beautiful little tower alcove for my tub, making it is a lovely dream room for me. My creative daughter Naomi helped me to paint the lovely flowers, fish and other water plants and animals around the edge; it was the first real painting project I managed after a decade of being forced to stop my work as an artist, and though I had to "moderate my expectation" I am so pleased with our results! This is my healing oasis.

Both of these photos remind me of how incredibly fortunate I am and how very much I've learned about managing the pain of RSD/CRPS and all my other chronic challenges!

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wego Health:  30 Days, 30 Posts for National Health Blog Post Month

My Mascot! post Give your condition, community, or self a mascot. Who is it? What do they represent? What is their battle cry?

OK, this is probably cheating, but my family are waiting on me for our regular  farm and family meeting and time, and the day is a-ticking-away.... so;

My mascot for RSD/CRPS is, unhun, The Beast. It's a brute alright, a many headed shape-shifter with every persona and every terrifying visage that you could imagine, because RSD/CRPS has so very many presentations, so very many ways to torment us.  But, like the title of the book, and this blog, says; I beleive with all my heart it can be tamed. It may never be a sweet lil' thing, it might not be a pet that any sane soul would choose, but we can learn to live with it, and sometimes, make it shake hands. As for battle cries, nuh uh. Won't do it, 'cause I know for sure that battling with it doesn't work. We are beast taming here, training it not to go into battle mode.... we're here to make it purr.

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Author: Lili Wilde
Date Posted: 2013-11-03   Date Last Edited: 2013-11-08 10:33:00