Giving it everything you have~~~

Focusing on the Patient

AP Photo-John Minchillo

This amazing picture was one of many taken as a group of dedicated Nurses worked in a dark stairway during the fury of Hurricane Sandy!  Some were adult patients, and others were the smallest ones-tiny
premature babies who require numerous machines and equipment to help sustain their life.  The Hospital had  lost all power during the storm~backup generators were failing but nothing stopped these Professionals from
Giving it Everything they had- They were breathing Life into the patient-look at their faces~filled with  intensity and determination as they worked in conditions  none had dreamed could happen.  Years of endless Training is being pulled together-to give each patient a chance at life~~this photo almost speaks to the storm- "We are in Control here-No Storm is going to stop us from our Job! " 

I have learned over the years to be my own advocate-simply put~~opening my mouth and speaking up for myself as I face health issues.  Each Doctor, Nurse, and Assistant deserves my respect and I try very hard to do my part in giving it to them~~but there are times when a "Patient" can teach a needed lesson 

when we see our words are not being heard.

God must have known when I fell from the tree that I would be needing a Doctor who would stay the course with me, hear my words, watch over me, give me the hard lessons to keep me on the right path-like jerking my stubborn mind back into line and helping me understand the long journey ahead of me.  I know she will be with me for the full distance~~as I asked her last week "Will you be with me for the Surgery?"  She looked at me with great love and then said "Of course I will be there" it was music to my ears. 

When dealing with Chronic Pain, there will be times when we stumble across the path of a person in the Medical field who knows nothing of our health history-and we find ourselves repeating all we have been through~~old procedures and medications are being suggested~and we feel our words are falling on deaf ears.  At these moments-its time to give it Everything You have~~step up to the plate and FIGHT

for yourself!  Yes you will step on toes, words will come flying out, some of them can't be taken back-but 

whether it be Doctor, Nurse or an Aide~~they too have a responsibility to listen to the Patient. 

I had the best example of "listening skills" being taught to me last week when my Doctor told me this latest news and said "I noticed how you had been describing your pain lately~~it was different and something told me there was a bigger problem and we needed to find it!"   She listened to me~a room full of patients also waiting to be heard and yet she picked up on my words being different and for me--

She was giving me Everything she Had inside her as a Trained Medical Doctor.

There will be many new lessons for me to learn as I prepare for this surgery-but in those moments of doubt and worry, I will pull this picture up and see a group of Medical Professionals Giving a tiny baby their all, as the good Lord helped guide them through that dark night.

Living with Chronic Pain is beyond mere words~~just keep giving it your all and ask God for His help.

I keep all the faces of Pain I will never see in my prayers-please keep me in yours.

God be with you.

Martha