Tag Archives: drug addicts

COPD – the beginning. Pain – the end

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is not painful.  We simply cannot breathe easily.  Some of us are on supplement oxygen – others chug along noisily, some less noisy.

“Question: Is having pain in the lung typical of COPD?

Answer: Chronic lung pain is not commonly associated with COPD. However, pain can come from the wall of the chest and not directly from the lungs – this in fact can be seen in COPD. Pain in the chest can come from coughing very hard and straining the muscles of the chest. Pain in the chest can be due to a rib fracture from coughing hard. Pain in the back of the chest can come from osteoporosis, or thinning of the bones. Check with your healthcare provider to find out the cause of your pain. If you have new chest pain, or have pain that frightens you, call 911 to go to the emergency room at the nearest hospital.”

 http://www.nationaljewish.org/healthinfo/conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/faq/

The problem for some of us is that COPD leads to other stuff – some of it painful – none of it desirable.  That is where I am – I have gathered a bunch of other stuff since my 1997 stay in Harrison Medical Center.

Do to inattention at putting on my stockings when I needed to – timing is crucial – the Cellulitis/Lymphedema is back and trying to heal.  It should have healed by now.  A brief stay in Harrison gave a great jump-start of healing my left leg but the healing has been set back and that means the pain is unrelenting.

A problem seems to be that the long homemade brush had an end tied cord that caught in the bristles of the soft baby brush and ripped the half healed sores open when I was in the shower to gently cleanse the wounds before my husband wrapped them again.

I did not know why it was so painful until I lifted the brush to rinse it and saw the cord end stuck in the soft bristles. I have recut the length of the cord so it cannot happen again.

Pain overtakes a life – it has taken over mine…and no blame except to me.   It has been over a year since my legs got bad and lymph fluid wept and the ‘blame’ is my own doorstep.  I let other stuff get in the way of getting my stockings on. I dropped the ball – as it’s turned out – on my own left foot.

I have never liked taking pain pills for any reason but for a lung patient – it is harmful.  Trouble is, right now – I do not care.  What good is saving your lungs when pain keeps you awake and in agony?  Crying in pain chokes off my airway and I still my mind to focus on deep breathing.  I take a pain pill to sleep and I take a pain pill to endure being awake waiting for my leg to heal.

Should I be afraid of becoming a drug addict?  At this point, I’m more afraid of not wanting to wake up to another day of the same pain.

Funny how drug abuse by drug addicts shut down pain relief for people who medically need it.  Doctors become afraid to prescribe pain pills for fear their patients will become addicted….and patients become afraid to take it.

Read the latest policy by the state – to track:

““Having a patient’s prescription history gives prescribers a more complete view of patient care when they prescribe or dispense controlled substances,” Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky said in a press release. “This new service is another tool for patient care and safety.””

Read more: http://pugetsoundblogs.com/kitsap-crime/2011/10/14/state-to-begin-monitoring-prescriptions-for-pain-medication-in-2012/#ixzz1cT5a9dJ1

Josh Farley’s “State to begin monitoring prescriptions for pain medication in 2012” article is timely.

The only people tracked here are medical patients and their doctors.  The druggies and drug dealers remain in a dark, untracked place of anonymity.

If doctors are leery of writing scripts for pain medications for their patients – what will happen to those patients forced to endure unrelenting pain?

Yes, Josh – I think this is an invasion of people’s privacy.

Thanks for reading…. Sharon O’Hara

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Unhealthy Excess Fat Is Worth $1,298.

Oh Fat Ones!

A few comments and a challenge.
Be aware that a move is afoot to tax soda pop as a primary reason this nation is top heavy with obese folks causing increased Health Care costs. The idea is that the extra 12-cent or so tax will cut down on the fatty folks buying soda thus we would lose weight and need less medical care.

It is strange the authorities do not look elsewhere to find better high calorie items to increase tax. Perhaps they could take a hard look toward chocolate covered donuts, Prednisone, Big Macs, a Frosty, French fries, Sara Lee pastries, Colonel Sanders chicken, ChezeIts, Butterfingers, Almond Roca, Hershey bars and other high calorie waist expanders rather than look toward soda pop as the blimp builder.

Drug addicts can hide their addiction, drunks too.
The public, until caught, does not see the human predator. Most people can hide addiction or criminal ways from public view until caught.
Not so, the fatties of the world. They have no place to hide. The fat of the obese is up, down, front, back, and everywhere.

The public judgment is there, as well. A recent study according to two Mayo clinic nutritionists, Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D. showed the evidence of obesity stigma.

The “July 2008 “International Journal of Obesity” …study developed a tool that could be used to measure bias, and to also rank biases from being a strong bias relative to others that are weaker. The three targets of bias that were chosen to measure and compare were: obesity, homosexuality, and Muslims. …The authors chose these three because each are widely known minority groups — …, they are documented targets of discrimination.
…
What emerged was that that there was strongest prejudice against obesity, followed next by bias against homosexuals, and then against Muslims. (If you wish to see the statistical details and strengths of the rankings you may access the using the link below.)

Laws and other protective policies have been put into place over the years to discourage — even punish — discrimination against race, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. It is pointed out that there is widespread documented evidence of weight bias in employment, educational, interpersonal — and yes — in medical settings. However unlike these other targets, no laws or protective policies are in place to discourage or punish bias against obesity.

The study concludes that weight bias is significantly stronger than bias against homosexuals and Muslims. It also concludes that much more research is needed in the area of prejudice and its causes and solutions.
For now, at the least, don’t you think social advocacy is needed to decrease the disproportionate attitude — and acceptance — of bias toward obese individuals? The authors — and I — applaud the efforts and progress made in protecting other minority groups against prejudice and discrimination. And, I also agree with the authors that “it is unacceptable that the obesity stigma is still so pervasive, strong and under recognized.”

It is time to prove – again – that most patients, if educated to what may well be their medical future if they do not change personal habits WILL make the changes needed to avoid future medical conditions.
After smoking forty years, I quit and discovered the true meaning of addiction and a gut-wrenching craving to smoke.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/comments/MY00586_comments#post

Losing the excess pounds will not change the lung diseases or add a lubricant between the bones of my left hip…but it will make a difference for one or more of the other medical conditions.

I am committing here publically to begin the Dash Diet http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf on Thursday, September 24, 2009.

Women100 pounds or more overweight are welcome to join in the weight loss quest to the healthiest we can be through good nutrition, fewer calories and exercise.

I will meet with anyone interested, weekly or whatever works to make the goal for better health AND for the challenge that the first of us to lose the 100 pounds and keep it off for six months will win $1,295.

We can work out the details.

The beginning is Thursday, 24 September 2009. My plan is the Dash Diet but yours can be anything your doctor approves. Let me know…and change our health lives. It is time to take those lemons and make lemonade.

Can I do it this time? I bet I can.

http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/09/14/obesity-a-focus-of-health-care-reform_200909145726.html

More later… Sharon O’Hara

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