Dr. Payne's Questionnaire

I've been seeing a pain doctor. for about the last year now and she has been of great help to me. I didn't even know they had doctors whose specialty was pain but she has a very busy office and I think that others may be in worse pain than I am. Of course that was before I started to take the medication. It's pretty strong stuff so she makes sure that I see her at least once every three months so that neither one of us lands up in the big house for drug dealing or possession. I like to call my pain Dr., Dr.Payne. Never to her face, of course, but just in general when I'm talking about her. She's actually a very good doctor so I shouldn't be making fun of her and I'm sure the gods will punish me in one way or other.

I am entering a form below that Dr. Payne gave me before I became her patient and I thought it might be of interest to you in finding questions to ask your Dr. or in finding a doctor to help you deal with pain. Some of the questions I actually find funny but then you be the judge. Check out question number three.

http://www.thepottymouthbook.com/

The following questions are given to patients who are on or being considered for medication for their pain. Please answer each question as honestly as possible. There are no right or wrong answers.	NEVER	SELDOM	SOMETIMES	OFTEN	VERY OFTEN
	0	1	2	3	4
1. How often do you have mood swings?	º	º	X	º	º
2. How often have you felt a need for higher doses of medication to treat your pain?	º	º	º	X	º
3. How often have you felt impatient with your doctors?	X	º	º	º	º
4. How often have you felt that things are just too overwhelming that you can't handle them?	º	X	º	º	º
5. How often is there tension in the home?	º	X	º	º	º
6. How often have you counted you pain pills to see how many are remaining?	X	º	º	º	º
7. How often have you been concerned that people will judge you for taking pain medication?	X	º	º	º	º
8. How often do you feel bored?	º	º	X	º	º
9. How often have you taken more pain medication than you were supposed to?	º	º	X	º	º
10. How often have you worried about being left alone?	X	º	º	º	º
11. How often have you felt a craving for medication?	X	º	º	º	º
12. How often have others expressed concern over your use of medication?	X	º	º	º	º
13. How often have any of your close friends had a problem with alcohol or drugs?	X	º	º	º	º
14. How often have others told you that you had a bad temper?	X	º	º	º	º
15. How often have you felt consumed by the need to get pain medication?	X	º	º	º	º
16. How often have you run out of pain medication early?	º	X	º	º	º
17. How often have others kept you from getting what you deserve?	X	º	º	º	º
18. How often, in your lifetime, have you had legal problems or been arrested?	X	º	º	º	º

	NEVER	SELDOM	SOMETIMES	OFTEN	VERY OFTEN
	0	1	2	3	4
19. How often have you attended an AA or NA meeting?	X	º	º	º	º
20. How often have you been in an argument that was so out of control that someone got hurt?	X	º	º	º	º
21. How often have you been sexually abused?	X	º	º	º	º
22. How often have others suggested that you have a drug or alcohol problem?	X	º	º	º	º
23. How often have you have to borrow pain medications from your friends or family?	X	º	º	º	º
24. How often have you been treated for an alcohol or drug problem?	X	º	º	º	º

A Picture Is Worth a Million Words

I am reposting this because we have got to spread the message for disabled people everywhere. And a picture speaks a million words.

 

Choir Sparks a Revolution (PHOTO)

Posted by Jeanne Sager

on April 2, 2012 at 1:19 PM

• Comments (41)|
• Liked (14)

Being different is part and parcel of being a kid with cerebral palsy. But for Alex Wilson, being different has come to mean being ignored. In a photo that has gone viral on Facebook, Wilson is the boy in a wheelchair placed a full set of bleachers away from his school's choir.
Mom Arla Jan Wilson originally posted the photo to her Facebook page with the disclaimer that she doesn't like to vent. But the sad photo, so simple and yet so startling, has become a lightning rod for parents across the nation who are more than happy to vent on Alex's behalf. What happened at the multi-school choral performance at the Georgia high school was wrong. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon.
Being separated and singled out from their peers is "normal" for these "different" kids. Just last week, a 5-year-old girl in Texas with the same diagnosis as Alex -- cerebral palsy -- made national news because her school was trying to force her into a wheelchair rather than allow her to use the walker that her doctors have said can help keep her mobile and allow her to function more like her peers.
The more these kids try to show they can do things that fit the so-called norm, it seems the more they're pushed back into the box they just punched their way out of. It's a double whammy if there ever was one.
Take Alex. His mom's Facebook "rant" (I put it in quotes because it sounds more like a good mom advocating for her child!) notes that chorus is one of the activities her son can take part in. His disability doesn't hold him back from singing. That's what makes the choral director's insensitivity -- he claims it was an "oversight" that Alex was abandoned and left alone in front of the entire crowd -- that much more heartbreaking.
Kids with special needs don't "just" need support to help them along with their daily tasks. They need to be recognized as people, human beings who deserve to do the kinds of things that their peers can do too, who are just as good and just as important. These kids should not be ignored. And thanks to the photo of Alex that's spreading like wildfire today, thanks to parents who are "ranting" on the Wilson's behalf, there's a clear message to school choirs like the one in Atlanta, Georgia that abandoned him: this is not acceptable.
Will you share Alex's story today to help fight for kids like him?

Image via Facebook

About the author Jeanne Sager writes articles for The Stir by day, slays closet monsters and bounds through bedtime stories with her elementary schooler by night. Diet Pepsi courses through her veins. The Phineas and Ferb soundtrack reverberates through her brain.
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Filed Under: special needs, school

New Mobility Magazine

I've enclosed an article here from New Mobility Magazine which will break your heart and make you spitting  mad. Spread the message. And check out the magazine. there are more good articles for disabled people.

A photo has gone viral after a mother posted an image of her son (who uses a wheelchair) on Facebook. The image (here) shows her son at his school choir concert parked on the far side of the choir stands, so far away from the able-bodied students that he could’ve been practicing a solo.

Not surprisingly, the photo has upset thousands of parents of children with disabilities who sadly know the inclusion fight all too well. The photo that’s gotten all the attention was taken by Arla Jan Wilson of Georgia, and her little cutie in the picture is Alex Wilson. She posted the photo with an apologetic disclaimer before complaining, “I hate to vent but…,” as you see parents of kids with disabilities do so often.

It can be a hard situation to get used to for parents when they first have a disabled child. They’re not used to the disability world and all the fighting that’s required for equal access. Finding your thick skin takes time. I think that a lot of parents don’t want to be the “rude” parents causing a ruckus. I can relate to this so much.

When I found myself newly disabled, I’d get pissed certain places weren’t accessible, but I was always hesitant to complain. I never wanted to be pegged as that disabled person — the one always causing “problems.” I was determined to project only a pleasant demeanor because I wanted everyone to like me. Talk about sad.

But Arla, myself and everyone out there who’s about to complain but withholds, we need to remember this: Change is never easy and always requires a little (OK, a lot) of uncomfortableness. Remember the tireless disabled advocates of the 1970s at the University of California-Berkeley who began the fight for equal access? It took countless sit-ins and protest upon protest to get where we are today. They pissed off a lot of people who didn’t understand the equal access fight, and that was unavoidable.

A little bitching on Facebook? Arla…have at it next time. Heck, open the flood gates. Your voice is more powerful, as your photo going viral proves, than you realize.

 

http://www.thepottymouthbook.com/

 

Whoo Hoo! Potty Mouth Is at It Again!

 I want to tell you about a new blog site that I am writing which is all about the new book that I have written and published entitled Potty Mouth and I'm so excited because the book is sitting right in front of me in all its potty mouth glory. I don't expect any of you to be as excited as I am but that's to be expected since I am the one who wrote the damn thing. I mean that wonderful thing.

This blog is going to have excerpts from the book, interviews that I have done, things that I've learned from writing the book and other exciting stuff. Check it out. I think you're going to like it. For me, it's exciting because I love to write and now I get to write about my writing! And you'll get to see some of my more potty mouth sense of humor which is missing from this blog but will definitely be punched into the next. Not to worry I'm a I'll still be writing on this blog as well but this will be the cleaner version! Okay kids,I'll see you on the other side.                              
  http://thepottymouthbook.wordpress.com

Right now I'm so happy I don't even know what to do! I've written a book entitled Potty Mouth, I self published and now I am holding the very first copy in my hand and it is absolutely awesome. I worked so hard getting this done and  getting a cover that I just love and it's even gone live on Amazon! There are a few things left to do in order to get it ready for sale and of course there is a ton of marketing to do.

 But the fact that I have actually written and published a book and it is in my hands is the most amazing feeling. So now boys and girls in just a couple of weeks you too can be holding this gorgeous book, Potty Mouth in your hands.it will be available in paperback and as an e-book. It's 308 pages long.and God am I proud!

Here I am sitting in my wheelchair, paralyzed on my left side because of this god damn multiple sclerosis and having overcome a deep depression and thoughts of suicide to actually doing something so incredible, in my eyes, sitting here with my Potty Mouth I am really overcome with emotion. I hope everyone will buy a copy and read it. You're going to love it.
http://www.thepottymouthbook.com/

Potty Mouth Is in My Hands!

 I'm sitting here at my computer so happy right now I don't even know what to do! I've written my book Potty Mouth and I've gotten it self published which in itself is a daunting task. So now I'm sitting here and holding the very first copy of the book and I'm s damn  proud I can't stand it!

I worked so hard and to have actually accomplished something that, in my mind, is truly astonishing after having overcome a deep depression and thoughts of suicide to actually have Potty Mouth in my hands as we speak.I mean, seriously how frickin cool is that? And not only that but the book has gone live on Amazon and soon will be in Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. Right now it is available in paperback form and soon will also be an e-book. Not bad for a woman with multiple sclerosis, paralyzed on the left side of my body,and dealing with pain every day.eh?

 So now I've still got a lot of work to do with marketing the book but what a labor of love that will be. And get this kids, in just a couple of weeks you too will be able to have Potty Mouth in your hands. SWEEEEET! I am delighted and honored to be able to share my work with you. You're gonna love it!
Check out the website:


http://www.thepottymouthbook.com/

The Potty Mouth Book

It's coming down to the wire and my book will be published very shortly. I am so excited I can hardly stand it! You are going to be able to find the softcover version and the e-book version at Amazon, at Barnes & Noble and at your local bookstores. I am, at last, a published author and I have gone from a place of deep depression and thoughts of suicide to actually writing and publishing a book. Hallelujah! Go to the website below and see what the cover will look like. You can also find out information about me and about the book.
Thank you, Renae Clare

http://www.thepottymouthbook.com/