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pain: chronic / words: iconic

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Gift Ideas For a Loved One With Chronic Pain Pt 1: Health & Wellness

by Janet Jay January 18, 2021
written by Janet Jay
Gift guide for chronic pain pt 1 health and wellness, janetjay.com header

Even if Christmas and the winter holidays are over, my birthday a couple of weeks ago got me thinking about all the little health gadgets I repeatedly recommend to my friends. Some of this stuff took me 20 years to learn about (theracane, where were you all my life?!) and some are old standbys that can help a surprising amount. Here’s a rundown of a few gifts that are sure to be a hit with your friends or loved ones with CP– mostly items I currently own and use myself. (Of course, if you have chronic pain yourself and this stuff sounds rad, I say treat yo’self.)  

The gift ideas in today’s post are going to focus on medical or health-related items, stuff that directly addresses a need of a person in chronic pain. Stay tuned for part 2, which will be more focused on style, craft and fun gifts.

Full disclosure: I am posting these options with Amazon affiliate links, though if you have a local business you can buy from I very much recommend and prefer you go there instead.

Heat it up

Back buddy heating pad

All heating pads are not created equal: so-called “moist heat” is a lot more effective for pain than the dry heat of an electric blanket or something. Bed Buddy is a brand of heat pack filled with organic materials that you throw in the microwave for a couple of minutes. In my experience, they last for years and are massively helpful for sore, tight muscles. They even offer them with built-in aromatherapy, if that’s your jam. 

Stretch it out

Woman helping man stretch using resistance bands

There are all sorts of exercises you can do with resistance bands— if you’ve done physical therapy recently, they may have sent you home with some. But if nothing else, they’re fantastic for stretching. That’s why I recommend everybody have at least one resistance band– when you’re feeling stiff, it really helps you stretch out tight muscles. 

vive calf stretcher
Vive Calf Stretcher

The last time I went to physical therapy they had this little plastic thing called a foot rocker that made stretching tight calf and leg muscles SO easy that I went home and immediately bought one for myself. It also came with a spiky ball that is absolutely perfect for working out knots in your feet– when my plantar fasciitis is bugging me, this is the first thing I grab. (It also includes an app, which I didn’t know about until three seconds ago when I went looking for that link.)

Grab it

the HMS Grabber reacher being used by a person in a wheelchair to pick up keys
The Grabber in use

A couple of years ago my L5-S1 herniated and i was taken to the hospital screaming, and eventually underwent an emergency laminectomy. I was sent home with a corset brace that supported my back but didn’t let me bend over (not like I would have been able to bend over without it, because of the pain). As goofy as it looks, a little grabbermajig like this turned out to be incredibly helpful. Every little bit of independence is worth it. This article, “Three Things To Consider Before Buying A Grabbing Tool,” goes through different options that specialize in long reach, firm grasp or great value. I ended up buying a “featherweight” model that did everything I needed it to. For a fancier model with a rotating head and a bunch of other options, take a gander at this demonstration video for the RMS Grabber Reacher — the grabber is illustrated with CGI and there’s an inspiring soundtrack that swells like the moment in a Disney movie where the hero triumphantly decides to fight on the side of good or whatever.

Step it up

stepper
Woman uses stepper

Getting regular exercise can be incredibly difficult with chronic pain– no matter how much you rationally know it will help in the long term, when you’re just struggling to get through the day it can be hard to force yourself to do something that’s only going to make you feel worse in the short term. (Damn you, pain cycle!) I live in Texas, land of “nine months of summer per year,” and if it’s hard to exercise regularly, it’s way harder when it’s 100 degrees outside by 11 am. Enter the stepper! I like to hop on it while watching something and zone out. I have the model on the left, which has stretchy resistance bands you can use with your arms, but you can also get a version that has a handle if you’re more concerned about ergonomics or need extra support. (Of course you could buy a stairmaster or a treadmill, if that’s your price point, but until I got this as a gift I had no idea that $50-$100 could buy me something that’s just as good).

Mobilize it (& work on that chi)

man lying down uses chi machine

I hate the name of these things–“chi machines”– because I feel like whatever it does for your “chi” is a lot less important than what it does for your muscles and joint mobility. You lie on the ground, put your feet in the little foot slots, and then turn it on so that it’s gently moving your legs from side to side with a swimming or wavelike motion. Note: START SLOW! This is one of those electronics where there are some really crappy knockoffs out there. The bare minimum you need is that your chi machine has a speed controller, and has soft footrests instead of hard plastic. This is the exact model I own and it’s served me well for…. eight years? Dang.

Massage it yourself

Man uses orange thera cane

For real y’all: get yourself a dang Thera cane. I’m legitimately sad that I didn’t hear about these amazing things until just a couple of years ago. A Thera cane is a plastic doohickey (technical term) that looks like the kind of old-timey exaggerated cane that would be used in a cartoon to pull someone offstage when they’re bombing in front of a crowd. You can use it to massage out knots anywhere on your entire body, by yourself, no matter where it is. As someone who lives alone it’s absolutely invaluable for those can’t-reach knots in my shoulders. Pro tip: you can put Icy Hot, essential oils or whatever you want on the knobs too! Seriously, the basic model and one that comes apart for ease of transport are both under $30. I just have a basic blue one and it has been a huge help to me; I can’t recommend this thingamajig enough.

Prop it up with a lap desk

Lap desk with pillow & wrist cushions, used by someone reading book

Lap desks are important for anyone who spends a lot of time in bed or on the couch with their computer. It serves a number of purposes: it keeps your computer stable as you shift around under it, it raises it up and tilts to make the whole process more ergonomic (I particularly like models that also have a wrist cushion, like this one). Another similar option is what’s called a lap table or bed table. It’s like a lap desk with legs; it reminds me of those trays that you see people on TV serving breakfast in bed on. Most lap desks have foldable legs that allow it to transform into a more normal lap desk, though without the cushioned bottom. There’s a huge range of options, from the most simple— a horizontal surface with folding legs– to the extremely complex, with cool materials, adjustable angles, integrated fans, and a hundred other little cool tweaks.

Soak it

shea butter moisturizing epsom salt

Three words: epsom salt baths. I recommend this stuff so often that the people in my chronic pain group are probably sick of hearing about it. But it’s one of the few OTC treatments that does anything at all for my pain. If you have super tight muscles and achy joints, it can really make a difference. On one hand, I have found a ton of personal relief from epsom salt baths and have had medical professionals explain how they work… on the other hand, I just this minute discovered that there’s not a ton of evidence actually supporting its efficacy for pain relief. All I can say is that I can personally tell a noticeable difference in how I feel getting out of a regular bath vs an epsom salt bath, but take my opinion with a grain of [epsom] salt (sorry, sorry, i’m trying to delete it). Anyway, regular epsom salt does the trick, but you can also buy versions scented with lavender, eucalyptus, and other calming scents, a special moisturizing formula with shea butter, and more.

Hit me up with all the stuff I forgot

I know I’m forgetting nine million great doohickeys. Why not give me a shout on Twitter and let me know what I’ve forgotten? And stay tuned for pt 2 of this series, where I focus on fun lifestyle gifts.

January 18, 2021 0 comment
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chronic painFreebiesHow ToPDFUncategorized

How To Get an Urgent Refill on a Restricted Medication

by Janet Jay October 11, 2020
written by Janet Jay
Includes: Step-by-step instructions and a script to help you communicate with to your doctor and pharmacy

So you need a refill on your pain pills or another med under heavy restrictions, and you need it now.  How do you make your doctor understand the situation? How do you make sure the pharmacy cooperates with them? What exactly do you say to make this magic happen?! Let me lay it out for you. 

Preface: Don’t Let It Come To This!

Don’t wait until the day before your script is out to try to get a refill. The more important a med is, the more wiggle room you need to leave your pharmacy.  You want to do what you can to avoid being in exactly this position, where you have to carefully choose your words and your stress is through the roof.  Set up automated refills, set up reminders, set up alarms, set up alerts– however your brain works, do what you can to keep on top of this stuff. However: shit happens, lines get crossed, to-do lists get forgotten, and sometimes you find yourself in this position whether you like it or not. So when you really need a refill and you need it now, here’s what to do.

Don’t believe your pharmacy’s automated line

I use Walgreens so let’s use it as an example. If you call in a refill on their automated line it will say “Your meds will be ready at 9 AM tomorrow, is that OK?” and after you assent, they’ll assure you it’ll be there. Don’t believe it! Sometimes the automated system will immediately say “We need to contact your doctor about this refill, but it’ll still be ready at 9 AM.” Don’t listen to them! Maybe that’s how it works with some medications, maybe that works as it supposed to a lot of the time, but you cannot depend on that if you urgently need your meds.

Call your doctor first thing 

The next morning, within an hour or so of the office opening, you call your doctor. Here’s the message I would leave for the nurse:
Hi this is Janet Jay, I am a patient of Dr. Whoever and I’m calling because I am completely out of Medication X. I took my final dose this morning and will need to pick them up before my next dose at 4 PM, so it’s extremely important to get this called in as soon as possible to the [pharmacy] at [address/cross streets]. If there are any problems don’t hesitate give me a call at [phone number]; if there are no issues, there’s no need to get in contact with me! Thank you SO much for your help on this, I really appreciate it.
(The bit about calling back is optional but I always stick it in to save them a little bit of effort: you want to stay on the good side of the office staff as much as you possibly can.)

WAS THIS SCRIPT HELPFUL? SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST AND RECEIVE A PDF WITH LINES AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR THREE CALLS OF INCREASING URGENCY 


Take a look at that script: there are a lot of important hooks in there. No matter what, you MUST say: your name, your doctor, your medication, how much you have left, if it’s time sensitive and just how much, your pharmacy, and your phone number.

No matter how you word it, you have to make sure you communicate

  • why you were calling,
  • what you need them to do, 
  • when you need them to do it 
  • & why you need them to do it then

Next step: Wait. Double check with your pharmacy. 

itsa doggo
Waiting sucks.
You’ve left the message above and are hoping to hear back soon. Most pharmacies have an automated system or app that you can check prescription status on— unfortunately, it really varies how quickly they are updated. That’s fine normally but when you are waiting at home with bated breath, trying to play middleman between a doctors office and the pharmacy about a medication you have to have ASAP, you don’t want to call and nag your doctor about calling in a script that they’ve already called in an hour ago. Not that it would be the end of the world if you made that mistake, of course, but when you’re asking for slightly special treatment you really want to be aware that you’re asking for special treatment. All that to say: even if the Walgreens app says they’re still waiting to hear from your doctor, you need to actually call and ask a real person whether your doctor’s office has gotten in touch. Half the time they’ve already heard from the doctor and it just hasn’t updated yet. But even then, the call isn’t a waste because then you can reiterate when you’ll be there to pick it up and how important it is that it’s ready at that time.  The big thing is to be aware of what you’re doing and what you’re asking of people. Hopefully you don’t find yourself in this position often! But when you do, remember:
(Don’t do this. Even when you feel like it.)

Lay out what your problem is, what needs to be done about it, when that needs to be done and why. Stay polite, stay professional, state details and facts clearly. 

I’ve definitely had refill sagas that made me cry, but leaving a sob-ridden message only goes so far: a doctors office going to take you so much more seriously if you say something like

“as of yesterday afternoon I am out of my pain medication which I usually take every twelve hours, I woke up this morning and my pain level was an eight so it’s incredibly important that my refill gets called in before noon today so I can pick it up before my next dose is due at 4.”

See what I did there, with a lot of very specific details, a legitimate reason why I’m asking for the things I’m asking, and a call to action? That’s your goal.

I hope this script manages to help some people going through a hard time–phone calls can be so daunting and anxiety-ridden that a lot of people avoid them, but they’re really crucial for problems like this.

REMEMBER: SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST FOR A PDF SCRIPT FOR THREE DIFFERENT CALLS


What if you still don’t hear back after multiple messages? Time to examine your options. 

Do you have your doctor’s email or some way to contact them? Is there a different line you could call where you speak to a person instead of leaving a message? Are you close enough to the office that you can come in physically? You’ll have a much better chance of stealing a couple minutes of someones’ time that way. And that’s it! Did I leave anything out? Do you have other questions or did this post help you in some way? Let me know on social media!
October 11, 2020 0 comment
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  • Gift Ideas For a Loved One With Chronic Pain Pt 1: Health & Wellness
  • Complementary Medicine That Actually Works: Biofeedback
  • Complementary Medicine: What Works and What Doesn’t
  • How To Get an Urgent Refill on a Restricted Medication
  • My Life In Pain (TL;DR version)

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    • Gift Ideas For a Loved One With Chronic Pain Pt 1: Health & Wellness

      January 18, 2021
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      November 25, 2020
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