When Words of Encouragement Discourage

  It is with a very heavy heart that I dedicate this post to my Uncle Fran, a man who lived his life in the most Christian way possible, who lived it to the fullest, who laughed often, loved much and was taken much too soon. I spent the past two weeks in doctor’s offices.  […]

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What NOT to Say to Someone in Chronic Pain

An oldie but a goodie…since this was popular and this week has been very difficult due to dealing with oral surgeries, bereavement, etc., I am reblogging myself…This is the complete list with a lot of the comments added. I will be the first to admit that living in chronic pain can make me a bit…sensitive.  […]

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An Overview of Depression

  According to the NIMH depression affects over 21 million adults and adolescents in the United States and is the leading cause for people age 15-44 to be “disabled.”  Oddly enough, New Jersey has the third lowest incidence of depression when broken down by state (I have lived here all my life and find that […]

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Humor and Chronic Pain: A Top 10 List

t When you are living with CHRONIC PAIN, it is vitally important to try to have a sense of HUMOR about your situation. I live with pain and I know that it is no laughing matter, and this is not intended to make light of a difficult situation, but I have also learned that if […]

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Underestimating Strength with Chronic Pain

Part of my gym membership includes two personal training sessions with the handsome trainer at the gym who seemed nice…until he tortured me for half an hour, that is.  I recently took advantage of one of my sessions with the trainer, whom I had spoken to on several occasions while working out.  He had given […]

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Pet Therapy- Part 2- Pet Mirroring

When you are living with chronic pain, there are many days when you wake up and think: “Today is going to be one of those days.”  You know the day: you wake up feeling anxious, annoyed, cranky…the kind of day where you feel like if you have to answer one more question from anyone, you […]

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The Benefits of Pet Therapy- Part 3

Coco as a Baby! “A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a […]

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Survivor’s Guilt, Traumatic Events and Chronic Pain

This is a guest post by Cassandra Russom relating chronic pain to a traumatic experience and how fighting chronic pain can lead to a type of “Survivor’s Guilt.” Survivor’s Guilt. Wikipedia says, “Survivor, survivor’s, or survivors guilt or syndrome is a mental condition that occurs when a person perceives themselves to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did […]

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