I could tell you that I appreciate how thoughtful and well-researched Kathy is, or I could tell you that she challenges me to think about issues I might not otherwise, but instead I will just share with you her post. Be sure to bookmark the link to her blog. She is already well on her way there, and I know she would appreciate a visit from you. Enjoy!

Health Care Rumors

My Experience

I was in Indianapolis last week and saw something that totally amazed me. A group of at least fifty people protesting on the sidewalk in front of my hotel. I didn’t have my glasses on and I couldn’t read the signs so I sidled up to one of the door attendants and asked what was going on. “They’re protesting health care reform.” WHAT? Why in front of the hotel? “Because it’s illegal to protest in front of the capital” which is right down the street from where we were staying.

I decided to take a closer look and wandered closer to the protestors. The signs read things like “There is NO free health care!”, “Don’t take my Medicare from me!” “I’ll KEEP my doctor THANK YOU”, “NO MORE TAXES!” And other things that made me shake my head. Sorry, don’t remember them all but I do remember I was pretty aghast by the misinformation.

I had questions to ask so I stepped up the pace from wandering to purposeful…which is exactly when my husband started steering me in the opposite directions. He’s a federal employee and he knows me. He’d prefer I didn’t start anything in full view of his colleagues who were all milling about the lobby ready to go to dinner. I don’t blame him.

So I didn’t get to ask why these people were protesting, or more to the point, who had pushed their buttons and fed them some, as far as I could see, misinformation.

I believe we need health care reform. I appreciate Fibrohaven allowing me to share my opinions on the subject. Actually our Founder of Fibrohaven Support Foundation, Blogger, Writer and Holistic Health Advocate (I stole this off her Twitter page) refers to me as an “Information Savant” because I blast her with so much (usually relevant, in my defense) info…which I suppose is a compliment?

My Source

I do tend to dig around a lot for information, but I didn’t have to go far, in this case. Health care advocate (full disclosure: she was my advocate and I was able to receive disability retirement and health insurance because of her work. So I’m rightly biased.) Jennifer Jaff, of Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc has already done the research and blogged about her concerns for health care reform here. There isn’t much (if anything) about healthcare that she doesn’t know or can’t find out.

The Cliff Notes Version

Those people in Indianapolis were wrong. Public opinion is being swayed by rumors such as all our taxes will increase. If you make over $250K, it’s a possibility…everybody else, not likely. And health care reform will not force you to change doctors or insurance (as Jennifer says; “Poppycock!). Medicare is not going to go away and it appears that the prescription “doughnut hole” is going to be reduced. So there!

Who has been spreading the rumors? Some fingers point to Insurance Companies and “Big Pharma”. Others at the “rabid right”. The usual suspects, but it doesn’t really matter; the point is that these rumors are persuading the public (those folks in Indianapolis) that health care reform is a bad thing. And if the bills are going to make it out of Congress and onto the Presidents desk, somebody has to let our representatives know that we agree that health care has to be reformed.

There are a lot of good things going for the bills that have made it to Congress; coverage of pre-existing conditions, caps on out-of-pocket costs, and insurance companies will no longer be able to drop people because of health issues for instance. They are still hammering out how it gets paid for, but if they allow a public option “the Commonwealth Fund has issued a report that says that we will save $200 billion over ten years with a public alternative.” And the President will not support anything that is going to add to the deficit. So we can hope…

Do you care?

Why would you care? Health Care Reform affects everyone on some level. Especially those of us with chronic illnesses. While they aren’t addressing chronic illnesses specifically (you should see Jennifer’s comments on Facebook when she was trying to get an answer out of the white house!) however a cap on out-of-pocket expenses would be a good thing.

Why not keep an eye on it? Watch what is happening. Pay attention where you get your information. Don’t be like those people in Indianapolis. And make your opinion and your needs known. You can contact your representatives here.

What do you say to your representative?

Think about it for a minute. Why do you care? Express yourself. In my case my 25 year-old daughter has interstitial cystitis (which is in some way comorbid/related to fibromyalgia) and no health insurance. (She’s gone “off the grid” of health care. I won’t go too far into that, but I would prefer she was at least monitored!)  I have a sister-in-law in a similar position. I have a friend who had to declare bankruptcy when her son had leukemia, even though she had insurance. I know too many people like this. And dammit, my representatives are gonna hear about every last one of ‘em!

You may not agree that health care is a right, but the current situation cannot be defended and should not be maintained. The status quo will continue if Congress does not do its job. So give ‘em an earful!

This article is free to reprint on your blog, ezine, web site, etc. Just leave everything “as is” including the resource box at the bottom. Thank you!

If chronic illness or pain is a part of your life, the odds are that at one point you have been requested by a physician to keep a log about your activities and pain levels, especially what led up to your pain being most intense. He may have suggested that you write down specific activities, your diet and exercise behaviors, and even your patterns of sleep.

If you have attempted to take this on and do it thoroughly, you know that it can be an overwhelming feeling to keep track of all of your activities and still maintain a sense of normal life. He can be extremely helpful, however, to you and your medical team, to have a written record of your activities, diet, etc. to help discover what is it is causing you the greatest pain. Was that extreme flare caused by a minor food allergy, the weather conditions, or that you were up all night with friends?

It is somewhat ironic that while we may find it a burdensome task to record what we are eating, who we are with, how much we slept, and how we are feeling, millions of people are doing this daily on Twitter. They write what they ate for lunch, if they have a migraine, and if they are up at 2 a.m. working. . . and they call it fun!

If you have a chronic illness, Twitter can be an amazing tool to use as a pain diary. This social networking tool has been successfully used to help people maintain logs on their diet, exercise, and even the commitment to stop smoking. Why should we not use it to keep accurate records of our chronic illness and pain levels?

Here are 5 steps to put this into place:

[1] Create an account at Twitter just for your chronic pain logs. If you already have a Twitter account, make a new one, and let it remain private. If you look under “settings” you will see the option to make your account private, meaning that you will have to approve any followers before anyone can see your Twitter account. Since this is private medical information, we recommend not approving anyone. If you are already Twittering this can seem a bit strange because you typically want to increase the number of followers.

[2] You are now ready to start writing your posts. You cannot write more than 140 characters, however, this keeps it a simple task and not too overwhelming. Feel free to use it in any way necessary, for example, submitting more than one post to describe a special circumstance. You can send posts from your cell phone, not just from the computer, so set up this option in your account to make the most of it.

[3] If you don’t know where to start, begin by posting about any major events or behaviors that are not part of your typical day, and how your body responded to them. For example, if you awake feeling horrible, ask yourself has the weather change significantly? Twitter the weather. Are you taking the same amount of medication as you typically do? Were you active or solitary yesterday? Post whatever information may be valuable to you and your medical team at any right in your treatment.

[4] Before you go to a doctor’s appointment, log on to your Twitter account and print out the posts if your doctor would like acopy. Highlight any major changes in your patterns of pain.

[5] If you already use twitter for personal or business reasons, consider using a service that will post to more than one account at a time so that you are regular tweets that share where you are and what you are doing can also post to your twitter chronic pain log without any additional effort.

The market for Twitter applications will continue to grow and there is no doubt that’s those considering medical Web 2.0 tools will come up with some fancy (and complicated) ways to record your pain levels. But for now you can have a thorough log of your chronic illness and pain levels in just minutes at no cost. You can’t beat that!

Lisa Copen is the founder of Invisible Illness Awareness Week held annually in Sept and featuring a free 5-day virtual conference w/ 20 seminars w/ 20 speakers. Follow II Week on Twitter for prizes and info. Blog about invisible illness on your site, be a featured guest blogger, meet others, read articles and lots more. Make a difference!

From Dr. David Shores, DC

A Comprehensive Holistic Approach To Fibromyalgia And Chronic Pain

Dannette from Fibromyalgia Haven asked me to write a guest article for her site when I spoke at her fibromyalgia support group in January.

Having worked with many fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and chronic pain patients I thought I would share a recent case to demonstrate what I find and how I proceed.

Late December 08 a new patient presented to my office with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia that began in 04. Her primary complaint was severe muscle and joint pain. She also reported severe joint swelling in all the major joints of her body and water retention. Her joint pain and swelling was at it’s worst in the morning. She had a history of multiple traumas. Neurologic testing showed multiple cervical and lumbar nerve compressions. Bio-response testing showed multiple severe heavy metal toxicity, more than seven chronic infections and several vitamin deficiencies along with several structural problem.

We supplemented her with the deficient vitamins only and gave her a nutritional supplement to chelate or remove the heavy metals and a nutritional supplement to aid her body in clearing the infections. She was monitored weekly and adjusted with an instrument  to handle the structural and neurological problems. As of today 2/2/09 she reports that her symptoms are eighty percent resolved with virtually all of the morning stiffness and pain gone. We expect further improvement as she continues on her program.

I find this case to be typical of many with fibromyalgia. In most cases there are a multitude of problems including structural, toxins, nutritional, infection and emotional. When the problems are addresed in the correct order and with great care, many with chronic pain improve tremendously. For more information please go to www.drshores.typepad.com

David Shores DC

1524 Encinitas Blvd

Encinitas, Ca 92024

760-753-4300

Disclaimer: This information is for education purposes only. The doctor does not diagnose or treat any medical conditions. The doctors goal is to restore proper function and thus restore self healing.

Personally I was very interested in Dr. Shores’ approach. It makes sense to me (especially after listening to his comprehensive presentation) that Fibromyalgia can stem from “a multitude of problems including structural, toxins, nutritional, infection and emotional.” A lot of my current research is based on what I learned from Dr. Shores, i.e heavy metal toxicity (post coming soon). As part of my unending quest to improve my health I will be working with Dr. Shores. I will write regular posts about my sessions and my response to his treatment in an effort to help us all benefit from his knowledge and expertise.

Thank you for your time and contribution Dr. Shores.