Inspiration in The Face of Adversity!

I wanted to share with my followers how important it is to be positive, to keep your faith no matter how hard life may seem, and to remember everything that we experience in life that we learn from can be shared with others so that they can also learn something from it.  No matter how big or how small our experiences are in life, some one out there will find something to take from them to better themselves or others. It can be an incredible feeling to know that one person can have such a huge effect on another, and that effect can be passed on further from one person to another.

When I began blogging, it was because my right shoulder collapsed, and I wanted to share with others my challenge and struggle to wait for it to be replaced. I woke up one morning in October unable to move my right arm because the shoulder had collapsed, and I had to wait until the end of March to have it replaced. I needed to share this with all of you to help me get through the pain, the trials of daily life, and to keep the strength and courage up to make it that long.  I am so glad that I started this blog. I have met some wonderful people online, have realized that there are so many people out there living with chronic pain conditions, and we all need each other to share our stories with to help one another to get through the rough times, to carry on. I first want to thank you all for helping me, and second I'd like to share with you all what someone told me about my story that helped her with her life experience with pain.

Thanks...you have given me inspiration as I've gone through the process of seeing doctors, even getting the second opinion about my shoulder, and getting in a place where I think I am going to get my shoulder "fixed" after nearly 8 months. I've had myofascial spasms for 12 years; we have been calling it and treating it as fibro for the past 2 (I'm on the fibro medications now for pain, and they help a lot).  I cannot imagine the arthritis pain you go through.  Your story of success after shoulder replacement surgery inspires me.  I tore 2 rotator cuffs (the top and "bottom" ones--supraspinatus and subscapularis) while stretching on a stretch bar--one of the morning sretches I had enjoyed for years.  When I got the MRI results several months later after my pain and spasm/guarding in that arm/shoulder had not subsided, I was SHOCKED to read that all 4 of my tendons that make up the shoulder joint were unhealthy, and that 2 were damaged.  I'm an attorney who helps people who have had injuries including by the healthcare establishment or MVAs--so we now laugh because when I got my MRI faxed to me at the office, someone confused it and after reading it over, said "what client is this for????"   Then we realized it was MINE!   Shocking.

Dana...I appreciate your attitude of gratitude, grace and help in the face of adversities.  I think these qualities make you a better candidate as an adoptive parent than many people out there who don't have adversities.  I say this because in my view, your comments...and your response to your health conditions overall, have been so very positive and healthy and strong.  I know you are a Christian...and I am also, so I'll just say--I think that our God is a loving God, and we live in an imperfect world of free will and accidents and all sorts of wildness and imperfection.  In this context, we experience illnesses and pain and losses that we can actually ask God to help us USE to get stronger. You have done this, Dana.  I commend you.  This is the attitude that I aspire to as I face surgery...as well as just every day when I get up and look in the mirror and say "I'm not able to walk in my own shoes today God, so help me out here, ok?  Help me turn this boat around and make it a positive ride, for myself and others, can we?"

For your information, she did have her shoulder surgery, and was recovering well the last time I communicated with her. Also, with her lovely comment in mind about my being a better candidate as an adoptive parent than many others without adversities, my husband and I adopted our first child in December of 2010. It was less than 9 months after my shoulder replacement surgery.  We are so blessed with a beautiful baby boy. He was 4 days old when we picked him up from the hospital. I have to say that my new shoulder came at the perfect time.  I have a brand new shoulder for my brand new baby! Perfect timing! Thank you, God for listening to my prayers--both for the recovery from my surgery and for our son!

Our Health Care System

(Publish date: September 7, 2010), and the theme is: Health care reform. Everyone has an opinion. What's yours? We want to hear all about your experience, what you hope will happen, what you think will actually happen. I did not enter my post in time, but I did write it. I did not publish my post though until months later due to personal situations. I have a link to the Health Care Reform Chronic Babe Blog Carnival for you to read the blog posts that were published. Please read them!

OMG! Health care reform! It is so important, and yet, I believe we may never come to a decision that will be able to help everyone equally or at the very least make everyone equally happy. I do have my own opinions on the health care reform situation. I believe that there is a desperate need for change, I believe that for those who have good insurance already it's scary for them to change anything, I also believe that for those that have no insurance or expensive insurance or the dreaded HMO's that need referrals and can only pick doctors, etc. from a list as well as for those on government aid of some kind, it is scary for them already unless changes do occur and soon. People with the good insurance that already have everything covered and can see any doctors they want, etc., they fear that changing anything will take away from what they already have. They don't want to have to wait longer than the usual wait to see specialists or to have surgery, etc. Those with anything less than good insurance fear that they may need a specialist or surgery, and they will have to wait a long time, perhaps too long, and their health may worsen or the procedures may become more expensive or too expensive to perform.  Death is feared the outcome for some of those people with chronic conditions or with a terminal condition.  It is all so overwhelming!

I must admit, I'm not the right person to blog about this topic probably. I have been very fortunate. I have been able to use my husband's insurance through his job which has not considered anything pre-existing. If I were to try to get my own insurance, I would be turned down instantly because of pre-existing conditions. I could always go on Medicare, but I fear that the doctors, hospitals and treatments would be less appealing and worse still, not as good at treating my conditions.  I know for a fact that my shoulder surgeon doesn't take Medicare, so I would not get the best shoulder surgeon in my area to do any further shoulder surgeries because of that.  I find that scary for me.  Then I think about the whole picture, everyone else. I don't think it's fair that I already get top of the line health care, and others do not. Others are still waiting to be able to go to any doctor or hospital they want.  That should be a human right to choose your own doctor or hospital rather than have your insurance choose it for you.  So for those that have never had that right, I feel terrible that I have never had to think twice about it.  For those that have no insurance at all, it would be so scary to know you have been diagnosed with a condition that will require much needed medical care, surgeries and other treatments. The financial side of that could be extremely detrimental to a lot of people.

I do believe in equal rights to all people, and health care should be included in that. I believe that there are just some things that should not only be considered privileges, but rather human rights for all people.  It shouldn't be a question whether a person can afford it or not, has a job or not, has a job that will pay for it or not, etc.  Every man, woman and child should have the right to equal health care.  I don't know that I believe it should be forced on everyone though. Of course, those same people that complain about having universal health care/insurance should not complain when they end up with a chronic illness, a debilitating illness, or a terminal illness and then want the health care/insurance that was once "forced" upon them. I think it is something that you have to think about long and hard. If you are going to turn it down, ask yourself that question, "what if I end up with a serious illness that requires me to have health care/insurance?" There is no way of knowing ahead of time what may happen in the future when it comes to a person's health.

I can say also that the idea of getting rid of pre-existing conditions is a great idea and will help out a lot of us with chronic illnesses. Many of us also have more than one! I for one have several! I have been saying for years that one of my biggest fears is that my hubby will get a job where they will not cover me, and I will be unable to get insurance on my own unless it is Medicare. With Medicare, there are several of my meds that are not covered under the prescription plan. My out of pocket expenses would be huge!

I have not read the entire health care reform bill, so I do not know everything that is on there to change, get rid of and/or add.  I can just express my opinions, concerns and fears. I am not a very political person, but I am a person living with chronic illnesses, and I am a person who is an RN with a BSN so I am educated and experienced in our health care system. I truly believe that the most important thing to keep in mind is that every change, any small addition and all things taken from the health care bill will affect someone in some way or another. If we keep that in mind, I think we will be able to come to some agreement in coming up with a health care reform bill.  I think that truly that is the only way we will ever come up with a universal and equal health care system!