Friday, April 11, 2014
April Meeting
Happy Friday! Hope life is treating you all well. I finally
made it back for a meeting. I missed it. J Everyone is just so
fabulously supportive and you just don’t get that everywhere you go. At least I
don’t. To me, walking into a meeting is like walking into a warm hug. Instant
acceptance and understanding. Yep… I missed it!
Linda and Charlie weren’t there. Which I was quite bummed
over. I mention this for two reasons. One, I want to kid them a bit. I show up
so they don’t??? LOL! But the REAL reason I mentioned this was because they
took the night off to reconnect. They took time for themselves! This is so
very, very, important. You MUST make time for yourself. You MUST make time for
your partner, caregiver, etc. Please, if you are not doing so, make this a
priority!
As usual the superwoman we call Janice (founder of the
support group!) did the introductions and asked us to think of one positive
thing that happened that week that made us either laugh out loud or at least
smile. That’s a really good habit to get into. Learn to focus on the positive.
I will upload the Fibromyalgia Awareness Day poster at the
end so you can mark your calendar accordingly. And while you have the calendar
out, it’s a good time to just go ahead and put a reminder on next months page
for the second Tuesday. That will be when the next support meeting will be.
Every second Tuesday of the month.
Janice mentioned that there is Tai Chi classes and yoga
classes available at the Oregon Heart Institute. So if interested, that’s something
to look into. Really does wonders for those of us that have balance issues.
They do so much more for your mind, body, and soul but it’s up to you to decide
if its right for you.
Our guest speakers were Dr. Scott Pengelly and Dr. Joshua
Haber from Pain Society Of Oregon. http://pain-consultants.com/our-practice/ They were really great. Told funny stories
and explained things in layman’s terms. Which was very helpful to me J
If you don’t keep it simple, I tune out. They introduced the concept of R.A.F.T.
to us and broke it down so we could follow. They use the R.A.F.T steps in their
office to treat you. I did take some notes but was suffering silently with a
migraine and nerve firing. So any mistake or error in what they said is mine
and I apologize.
The R in R.A.F.T
stands for RESCUE. Finding some
relief not only with medication but with alternative care options. But the
first step is to rescue the patient. Stop the spiral fall they are on and get
them as comfortable as they can so they can focus on phase two. Phase two is
the A in R.A.F.T. Which stands for ADAPTATION. They work with the patient
to find out what works for them. Making small changes in your everyday to make
them work optimally for you. Whether it involves changing the time you take your
medication etc. As for the F, that’s
for FUNCTIONALITY. Being able to
address the issues, show with learning and adaptations that you can still learn
to enjoy and perform tasks. Finally the T
stands for TRANSFORMATION. This
entails you using all the skills they teach you (like breathing exercises etc)
to make permanent changes so you may step away from the chronic pain and start
living. Just like kitchens and garages have different tools for different
tasks, you should have different ‘tools’ to use against your chronic pain.
Dr. Pengally mentioned the function of the limbic and
amygdala in the brain. It was very enlightening. I encourage you to look up
their functions. I’m currently at a loss on how to explain it. The limbic is
always on and everything gets processed through it. Really quite fascinating!
Just a really great meeting. We were treated to a train poem
by Verna at the end. Hope to see you soon. Every second Tuesday of the month to
be exact! Until then, soft hugs to you all J
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