Book Review - An Awesome Book on the Topic of Chronic Pain!

The Truth About Chronic Pain: Patients and Professionals on How to Face It Understand It, Overcome It by Arthur Rosenfeld.



I found this book in my local library. I think it is fantastic! It was interesting from start to finish.


The first section of the book, "Patients in Pain", consists of several chapters. Each chapter contains the author's interview of a chronic pain patient.


Part two contains the author's interviews with caregivers (health care professionals).

The third section is called "Thinkers on Pain".


Finally, the author concludes with an epilogue, "Toward Compassionate Pain Management", which covers the current state of pain management in our society and his view of how it needs to change for the better.


I think ANYONE who has chronic pain will find this book absolutely fascinating. Many of those interviewed in this book have strong opinions on the topic of pain. I agreed wholeheartedly with some, but not all, of their opinions. Whether I agreed with each opinion or not, I found all of the viewpoints represented here to be quite interesting.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who experiences chronic pain (or who has a loved one who does). While I realize that not all endo patients experience physical pain as a symptom, this book may still hold interest for those without that symptom. (Emotional pain is discussed in the book as well as physical pain).

This book is thought-provoking and eye-opening.

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Infertility and Endo

According to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association (http://www.resolve.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_wii_endo), “infertility is prevalent in women 30-40 years of age, though it can begin in the late teens and early twenties” and “about 40% of patients with endometriosis will experience some degree of infertility.”

Since infertility is so common in endo patients, I thought it might be helpful to write about it for this post.

One book on the topic of infertility I’ve heard good things about is: Waiting for Daisy by Peggy Orenstein:

Here are some comments on the book by members of an infertility support group:

“So different from every other infertility book I have read. So personal…”
“ More than just a slice of her life and journey, you really develop a connection to her experience.”
“ So all consuming, infertility is life shaping.”
“ Reminded me of how easy it was to lose track of the baby and focus only on the pregnancy.”
“ If you are at the point in your journey where you need to regroup or reconnect, hearing the details of someone else’s journey will help you get off your personal island.”
“ Such a personal account, I could relate to the ups and downs.”

To be honest with you, I have not read this book myself but I decided to include it here because I have heard such positive feedback about it. Those endo patients experiencing infertility may find this book helpful.

If you are experiencing infertility, I would look for an infertility support group in your area. The RESOLVE organization may be able to help you locate a support group near you. Just check their website (above) to see if there is a support group in your area.

There are also counselors/therapists available who have special training in infertility and miscarriages. Therapists can be very helpful if you’re experiencing infertility as an endometriosis symptom. If you are looking for such a therapist, generally contacting the nearest good-sized teaching hospital in your area is a good way to find a Marriage and Family Therapy unit with therapists specially trained in this area.

Infertility can be emotionally draining. Try to find someone else near you who is going through it. Talking with others who understand can really be helpful!

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.

Welcome to Jeanne's Endo Blog!

I would like to welcome everyone to this brand new endo blog. I am very excited about it! This is something I have thought of doing for awhile now.

I would like to start by thanking two people who have inspired me to pursue this idea of creating an endo blog. First, I'd like to thank Tracee for her generosity, moral support, and time! Tracee's blog was what first inspired me to even dream of creating a blog. I'd also like to thank my husband. He spent lots of time discussing this with me and was very encouraging. While I had privately pondered making a blog, both Tracee and Don came out and suggested it without me ever saying aloud that I was seriously considering doing it!

Also... one of my endo support group members, Alicia, emailed me to announce her new (non-endo) blog a couple of days ago. I had already made up my mind to create this by then and was very happy for her deciding to create a blog herself. Alicia has also been very enthusiastic in supporting my decision to create an endo blog. :)

So, here goes. My first real endo blog post. I guess it makes sense to start this blog by explaining my intent. My intent is to provide information that endo patients are likely to find interesting or helpful in managing their illness. As I mentioned in the disclaimer above, this blog is NOT intended to provide medical advice. I'm a layperson. I plan to share my personal experiences, any info my support group members would like me to share, info regarding alternative medicine options (of which many are unaware), any endo legislation I come across, lots of links to helpful websites, etc.

I'm am very excited about this venture. I hope we get lots of activity from people on comments to the posts. It should end up being a forum for vigorous exchange of ideas.

Finally, I should forewarn readers up front that I may not always post as regularly as I would like to be able to. So please be patient with me when these times occur. I will post as often as I'm able with the many illnesses I have. If you don't hear from me for awhile on this blog, it simply means I'm too sick to blog at that time BUT I'll be back at it as soon as I possibly can.

This should be an exciting opportunity to get endo patients connected, interacting, exchanging ideas, and empowering themselves. I believe it's SO important for endo patients to advocate for themselves. Navigating the health care system can be challenging. At some point, I hope to post tips like "suggested questions to ask your doctor in a pre-op appointment" and "what is available besides drugs and surgery?"

Please come back and visit regularly. I think you'll find this blog supportive and, hopefully, quite useful.

Thank you for checking the blog out. I hope you'll become a regular visitor!

:)


Take care,

Jeanne

This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.