Healing with Chronic Pain and Illness

[Thomas3.20.2010]

  As most of you, my beloved Community, know - I have COPD/Emphysema Stage II. I am very fortunate to have been diagnosed at Stage II since it gave me more opportunities to change some habits of mine that were killing me including and most importantly - I quit smoking 6 days after diagnosis. In those six days I smoked EXactly 10 sickerettes - the ones left in my pack when I walked out of the hospital with lung infection.

  As we come upon November, I'll be talking more about this since November is COPD Awareness Month. If you are 100% convinced that you do not have this chronic, progressive incurable disease, then feel free to skip these blogs. Be aware, though, that COPD is the #3 killer in the US right behind heart disease and cancer. 90% of those who have COPD are smokers or EX-smokers. 

  But today I will be talking about how to live with chronic pain and illness. Most of this information comes from the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program at MIT in Boston. This program was created in 1991 by Jon Kabat Zinn and for 2 1/2 decades Dr. Zinn, a microbiologist,  has been working with the chronically ill to aleviate their pain. 

  What do you think of when you think of healing? The definition is to restore to health or soundness; to cure. But we have an incurable illness. Does that mean that we cannot be restored to health? NO! I, for EXample, am more healthy now than I have been ever before in my life -   because of the disease diagnosis!

  Dr. Zinn says that healing means coming to terms with things as they are now. I see this often where I work (Assisted Living Facility.) Those residents who have come to terms with their health, living conditions, and  limitations adjust well and live more happily than those who buck against the aging process and loss of independence. The same is true with all of us. The Boston Marathon Survivors had to come to terms with new realities. Some lost their limbs but still found a way to move on. We who have chronic pain can learn to adapt to our lives as well. But we might need a little help. 

  Stress is the struggle with what is, states Dr. David Black. It could be:

  (1) Something you have and don't want

  (2) Wanting something and not having it

  (3) Having something and pretending you don't

  We all have the resources to limit and aleviate stress by virtue of being human. It's not about fixing. It's about   healing - coming to terms with things as they are - as a place to begin and adventure into the field of the possible!

  As long as you are breathing there is more right with you than wrong with you no matter what is wrong with you! There are pathways by which positive emotions influence health and well being. Positive emotions are not the inverse of negative emotions - they don't cancel each other out.  You can have both and still benefit from the positive!

  So what are these pathways?

  (1) Physiological Responses

  (2) Adaptive or Maladaptive Behaviors [such as smoking]

  (3) Aversive Environments or Supportive Environments

  Again I refer to the Serenity Prayer:

  God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

  The courage to change the things I can,

  And wisdom to know the difference.

  So how do you access wisdom? 

  - you can listen to people who you consider wise

  - you can ask yourself WWJD. What would Jesus do? [or Mohammed, Buddha, ...]

  -you can use inner wisdom imagery which moves you from fear and anxiety to wisdom - inside

  Once you have found calm and are working from a place of wisdom, you can begin to separate out those things that I can change from those which I can't. Each has it's own set of coping tools in their tool box. 

  For those things which I can't change I can learn to relax - even with the pain present! I can find calmness and serenity - I can come to a place of acceptance. I have in my tool box: meditation, imagery, physical activity, humor just to name a few tools available to me.

  For those things which I can change I can tap into my courage, creativity, and confidence in order to take action. I can learn useful skills such as negotiation and communication. Here the Intention Prayer is useful - Focus on where you want to go because your body tends to go where you look! 

  By increasing Positive States we reduce distress and enhance well being. We can do that with:

  Self Affirmation

  Cognitive Behavior Stress Management

  Coping Effectiveness Training

  With these skills I can achieve healing in the sense that I can optimize my Health! I can become more resilient to the progressiveness of my disease and my changing physical status. And I can reduce my vulnerability to daily stress.  I can heal!