Learning to live with Gratitude

Why am I learning to live with gratitude? Well, because the therapist that I've seen twice now suggested keeping a gratitude journal for 30 days on my last visit. Apparently there are studies that show that just practicing gratitude can help to decrease anxiety and/or depression. Since I have a very anxious personality, I think that it contributes to my pain since anxiety causes the body to become tense. Click here to read the study which I believe my therapist was alluding to. If you have been paying attention to my Facebook posts lately, you will see that I chose to do my "gratitude journaling" as daily Facebook posts. I guess I mostly wanted others online to get to know me better by learning what I'm grateful for, but also to maybe even inspire others to think about what they're grateful for when they read my posts. I have no idea if my posts are actually doing either of those things, but my hope is that they are. Today I am at Day 12, so not even at the half-way point. Forcing myself to think of something that I'm grateful for every day so far has made me focus on the good things in my life. I thought I was an overall grateful person even before I started my gratitude journal, so I wasn't expecting to notice any big changes overall. Still, I think that there have been a few days already where I may not have taken the time to consider any positives about my day if I hadn't forced myself to for the sake of my journal; for example, the day I spent all day at KU Med. Or even today where I am in more pain than usual and it's been cold and rainy outside all day. My therapist asked me to email her at the end of the 30 days to tell her if I noticed any differences. I will update you as well.
So why was I at KU Med all day? I originally went there for an appointment at the Spine Center. I actually was going in for a different injection since the injection in my Sacroiliac joint didn't help my pain at all. After consulting with my doctor, she believed that it hadn't been effective because my whole left leg from my waist down was inflamed and just targeting one area wasn't going to help. She then suggested that I try an injection in my bursa because it's a joint cushion that can cause joint pain when it's inflamed. That's what I had scheduled at the Spine Center. Even after arriving early this time (I learned from my past mistake), they still ended up doing the procedure an hour after the scheduled time. By the time they finished monitoring me in the "recovery room," it was 12:30. The appointment had been for 10:30 in the morning! Then, Tim decided to ask the receptionist about where we could find their nearest Urgent Care since I hadn't been feeling well for the past few days. In fact, I had had severe pain the night before but I hadn't wanted to pay for the expense of going to the emergency room. Unfortunately, the receptionist became alarmed by Tim asking for Urgent Care and told us that we needed to go to the emergency room there. She had me sit in a wheelchair and wheeled me to the emergency department. Once I was there, the doctor examined me and decided that based on my pain, they needed to do blood work and a CT scan. I had to wait a really long time in the ER, but because I really wasn't feeling well, I actually was okay with just laying in the bed there all afternoon. I even feel asleep. When the doctor finally came in to tell us my results, I found out that I had a cyst on my right ovary and a uterine fibroid. That was crazy news because when I had my laparoscopy two years ago, all of the tissues found were on my left side. Plus, I had had a polyp on my uterus that had been removed. This news meant to me that everything that had been removed at my last surgery was growing back and is now even worse than before. That news was very discouraging considering the fact that I've been trying really hard to improve my health. It's hard not to feel like my health is a lost cause. We ended up leaving the ER at 5:00 PM, and we hadn't eaten all day!

On a positive note, I have experienced pain relief from a few different sources in the past couple of weeks! First of all, I think the bursa injection has helped to reduce my hip pain! I no longer have the really sharp pain that makes my hip and leg give out upon overuse.
                                          
I also have been taking a Young Living supplement called Agilease. My therapist had actually recommended a different product that many of her patients have claimed has helped them; and after reading the ingredient list, I realized that Young Living sells a product that contains all of those ingredients, plus more anti-inflammatory ingredients! The ingredients include Sacred Frankincense resin, turmeric, black pepper, undenatured collagen, and a blend of anti-inflammatory essential oils (Wintergreen, Copaiba, Clove, and Northern Lights Black Spruce). It's supposed to be used for inflammation and joint support. I have definitely noticed a decrease in my inflammation!
Finally, I also have to share an essential oil blend that I am so thankful for! It's name is SleepyIze, but that is misleading. I do not use this oil to help me sleep, and it's actually a blend that comes in the Kids line of oils. This oil blend has so many amazing essential oils that work as muscle relaxants, analgesics, and anti-inflammatories!!

It contains lavender, geranium, roman chamomile, tangerine, sacred frankincense, valerian, and rue oil. If you read about these essential oils online, they're incredible! Like I said, I have been in a lot of pain today. In fact, I had to have the heating pad on. I even took Thyme and Copaiba in a capsule earlier and applied Frankincense on my abdomen. Doing those things helped a little. But, it wasn't until after I finally applied SleepyIze on my abdomen that I had such incredible relief that I didn't even need the heating pad anymore! I'm sooo grateful for this oil! PLEASE try it if you have any similar pains to what I have.

I have no idea where my journey to health will take me, but for the moment, I'm so grateful for what I have learned so far and for all the improvements that I've been allowed to experience. What are you grateful for?