Monday Misc on Tuesday

I got busy yesterday working on the genealogy Quarterly publication that is my volunteer job and spaced out doing the blog so am doing the blog today before I get back to the Quarterly.

I spent last Saturday morning in a photography class at the local community college.  This was the 3rd class I have taken with this particular instructor. I took a Portrait class from him in early December and he helped me with suggestions on how to pose people, build groups, etc for the family Christmas dinner. So on Saturday I took the book I did that had the family pictures in it to show him how it turned out and to thank him for his suggestions which really paid off. He referred back to the family pictures several times during the class which was nice. He was certainly impressed with how many family members there were!

I have no idea what the name of this plant is but it was pretty.  We left the class room and went out into the atrium of the building to practice what we covered in class. This one was in a big planter box. I was quite happy with the picture!

This fountain is next to an office complex along Metcalf Ave - a major street in the area. I saw it last week but didn't have time then to stop and take pictures so went there on Saturday after the photography class. I get cold every time I look at the picture... 8-) According to the weather man the other night, our average temperature is 3 degrees lower than it was last year and we have had 10 less inches of snow. The snow is measure at the airport, about 50 miles from me, and they have had a lot more snow than we have had here in Overland Park. Come on spring......

Time to get back to editing the Quarterly based on input from the 2 proofers that go through the 30 pages with a fine tooth comb looking for misplaced commas, spelling, etc. It goes to the printer tomorrow and then I have all this empty time for a month before starting on the next one.

Update on Pain Management class and Physical Therapy

Class: I had no idea that pain was such a complex issue. To me, you hurt, you take a pill and that's it.  Now I find out that yes, you hurt but there are so many other factors involved and treatments. Last week's class was Overview of Pain Management and Strategies by a doctor who is the Director of Acute Pain Services at KU Med Center. Here is a summary from his 1.5 hour talk - at least half of that was us asking questions. Where else will you get 1.5 hours of a doctor's time.... 8-)
Because of the billions of dollars that are spent each year on pain, the treatment is becoming a major issue for the medical profession. There are more studies than ever of how pain effects people and how it can be treated. Pain is very complex and hard to treat something that isn't fully understood. Pain is sensory and emotional and both must be treated. A person's medical history can impact a person's probability of chronic pain when having a procedure such as knee replacement done. The options to treat pain are:

• Physical Therapy: If you don't use it you loose it! An example he uses is if someone has arthritis in the knee. If it isn't used then the person will loose the muscle strength and the muscles will be too weak to do what they are supposed to do. In addition, the joints will lock up with the arthritis. Exercise can also increase a person's pain threshold. Stretching and strengthening movement should be done every day.
• Behavior Modification: This would include loosing weight, don't eat as many of the foods that are pro-inflammatory and those will vary by person.
• Complementary alternative therapies:  Acupuncture is the most common for pain.
• Medication: There are many medications for pain and different ones will be used depending on the type of pain - joint or nerve. The medication also must be tailored to the person and other physical issues they may have. An often overlooked treatment is Voltaren Gel which is a topical gel that puts the ibuprophen right on the joint. When you take a pill, the drug goes through the body where the gel or injections put the medication right where it is needed.
• Injections: This is broken into steroid/local anesthetic (pain shot in the bone/back)  or Neurolysis which is done on small nerves such as the RF Ablation I had. These are very effective on some people.
• Implantation device: These include "Spinal Cord Stimulation" and Pain Pumps. These are VERY effective and can be reversed. Plus they can do a temporary to find out if it works before doing the full implantation. The hospital will only do pain pumps on someone who is in last stages of cancer, etc.
• Surgery: This department only refers about 30% of their patients to surgeons - the rest they are able to effectively treat with one of the above methods. Surgery cannot be reversed and is much more risky. All conservative measures should be tried first.

And to think all the classes are free - I just show up!

My Physical Therapy:  Kellie put me thorough a series of tests last Thursday to see how I performed compared to 6 weeks ago when I started. I did much better on most of them!  She is the first physical therapist that gave me easy stuff to do at home!  Let's face it, I don't have many excuses for not doing them when I can lay on the bed and do most of them. No on the floor stuff, using rubber bands, etc. She did "rap my knuckles" when I had to set in a regular chair and stand up.  I put my hands on the arms and pushed up like I do at home. I found out that you need to use your legs/knees to stand up which keeps the muscle tone in the legs. (Use it or loose it...) It's ok to lean forward, put my hands on my legs, etc but don't push myself up with the chair arms. My knee does hurt when I do that but it goes away quickly. I admit that I take a lot less pain medication now than I did when I started physical therapy. Part of that is due to the procedure I had done but the physical therapy is working on tight muscles, etc that I didn't even know was a problem because the other pain was so dominant.   I have learned to do a pelvic tuck that has really helped my back pain and I can do it while standing in line at a store and no one knows I'm doing it. Standing in place is a killer for me - whether in a store or at the zoo. It takes the pressure off the back joints that takes pressure off nerves.

Monday Misc for Feb 16th

Weather: 2-3" of snow this morning but not enough to completely cover the grass.  The snow is really fine - almost like fine sand. But it sure is cold!  I can't fuss about the snow since we haven't had a big snow this winter but I have had enough of the cold and certainly am ready for spring.. 8-)  It was especially hard to get myself in the mood to go to Physical Therapy this morning although I had no problem on the streets.  I didn't know my car had an alarm when it skids... I turned a corner and slid a bit which caused the light to light up on the dash and an alarm sound go off.  First time I have every had that happen!!!

Pain Class: The last 2 classes have been rather "Ho Hum". One was on "mental wellness" and I'm still trying to figure out what they are talking about other than positive thinking. Last week was more on Spirituality which was rather interesting. A hospital Chaplin spoke and talked about the difference between "religion" and "spirituality".  Religion is churches and all their rules, beliefs, etc.  Spirituality is the belief in a higher power - whatever/whoever it is. Tomorrow's class is an overview of pain management strategies and the doctor will review the differences in non-invasive non-drug pain management (exercise), medications and invasive pain management (injections). Should be interesting...

Labs: I got the results back on the labs I had done last week.  The liver and kidney functions are PERFECT!!!!! I have been off the liver meds for a month and no change in function numbers so far.

E-Mail Clean Up: I spent several hours yesterday cleaning up emails which is not one of my favorite things to do.  Mainly I was un-subscribing to companies that I get advertising email from. I can't believe how many emails a day I was getting for everything from Best Buy to restaurants. When I am at home it isn't such a big deal to just delete them every day but when I'm traveling, 2 days of not doing it and I'm up to 60 new emails. So I'm getting ready for a summer of travel.... 8-)

Birds: I can't believe how much birds eat in a day!  I can put about 3 pounds of seed out and it will mostly gone the next morning.  Now that is a lot of little seeds for them to eat one-by-one. A lot of the feed is being eaten by the doves - sometimes there are 10-15 around it at one time. The squirrels and blue-jays are still sharing the peanuts...

Monday Misc for Feb 9th

It's a wildlife day....

This Cardinal came for lunch at the Red Roof Restaurant last Wednesday during the snow storm.

 

This morning, instead of having breakfast at his table on the patio, the Mr. Squirrel was eating at the bird's Red Roof Restaurant.

 

And then... a Blue Jay was eating the peanuts from Mr.  Squirrel's table instead of at the Red Roof  Dining Room. Entertaining.....

 

Wow.....I see a couple of Robins out in the yard having breakfast.

A Year Ago Today.....

A year ago today Morris and I arrived in Overland Park to start another chapter in our lives. We spent the final night in Oklahoma City before starting the usual 5 hour drive onto KC area. However, with the snow and ice on the roads, it took a little longer that day.

It snowed during the night in Oklahoma City and this is Morris looking out the window of the hotel seeing snow for the first time. I would love to know what he is thinking..... 
A year later, I am settled in, apartment furnished, and missing my buddy but that is life....

Monday Misc Feb 2

Enough of the cold weather!  But at least we haven't had the snow that other parts of the country have had so I don't feel like I can complain too much.  However, I am ready for Spring and starting to think about what I want to do, short trips to make, etc.  Last Spring I was focused on getting the apartment put together and don't have to worry about that this year so can enjoy Spring.

The birds and squirrels were certainly glad to have me back home and filling their food dishes. I had 4 squirrels for breakfast this morning which is a new record. It doesn't take much to entertain me....

Physical therapy: I'm into my 2nd week of physical therapy twice a week. I went 3 days without taking any ibuprophen after the 2nd session - usually I take it daily. Then on Friday she added some new exercises and one of them flared the back up but it has calmed down again. I'm starting to think the doctor was right when she said the RF Ablation procedure worked and now I'm feeling muscle pain. The physical therapist is focusing on stretching the back muscle that is hurting and strengthen the muscles that support the lower spine. She is very aware of not hurting me and will change a exercise style if one hurts.  However, I am learning the difference between "stretch hurt" and "pain hurt" if that makes sense. I am supposed to do some of the exercises at home twice a day but I will admit I don't always do it.  I try to get at least one session done.  As much discipline as I have for some things it does not extend to food and exercise!!!!!

Pain Class: Last Wednesday I started a 10 week series on "Learn to Manage Your Pain Before It Manages You".  The program was designed by the Pain Management department at the KUMed Center's Spine Center and doesn't just focus on spine pain but all types of chronic pain. The sessions are:

1. Why Me - Why Do I Hurt
2. Who's the Boss? The Thoughts We Tell Ourselves and Managing the Emotions of Living with Pain.
3. The Role of Hope
4. Overview of Pain Management Strategies
5. Functional Restoration
6. Inflammation and Pain Foods That Can Actually Hurt You
7. Chair Yoga
8. Guided Imagery: A Tool for Managing Pain
9. T'ai Chi

The doctor last Wednesday, who is head of the Pain Management department, did a really good job of explaining what causes pain, etc in simple English - well as simple and it can be done. Some things I learned:

• Pain is complex.
• Pain is also an emotional experience.
• Chronic pain lasts longer than 3 months.
• Some people are at risk for developing chronic paid due to genetics, gender, personality, emotional state, certain types of surgeries, etc.
• Pain is processed in the brain and nervous system so we have to "retrain" the brain.  Look at all things affecting the nervous system and to take a structured approach to pain.

The structured approach to pain is:
 - Medical - medicine, injections, surgery
 - Thoughts and Behaviors
 - Diet (Some foods are pro-inflammatory to some people) and Lifestyle (Our life has become "convenient" so we don't move as much)
 - Deeper Meaning
 - Physical Function (Will the activity hurt but not actually damage the body.)

A plan for managing pain needs to be devised jointly by the doctors and patient. Set a goal and work towards it starting with baby steps and don't overdo it. Arthritis, as in my case, doesn't stop me from doing things. What the problem is that if I don't use the muscles then the muscles don't have the strength to keep moving the joints. Muscles support the joints and make them move. If the joints aren't moved then they build up "concrete" in the joints and in time can't move.

For me, I want to take a proactive approach to the severe arthritis in the back and do what I can now to buy time before it causes major problems. The doctor didn't paint a very pretty picture if I just set back and do what I've been doing the last few years which is avoiding exercise if I can. I like walking but it's easy to not do it if I'm not in the mood. Stay tuned.....