Abide

Illness Etiquette II ~ How to visit a sick friend

Several months ago I posted a piece on Illness Etiquette, based on a post by Karen, whose husband had been recently hospitalized. She said I didn't think that this would be necessary - but it is. . .

A commenter asked:

"Thanks for this information - it's very helpful. I was wondering, though, if you have any "Do" suggestions. Most of the suggestions on the list are "Do Not" or "don't go in" or "leave when they're tired". I'm glad to know that. But when it is appropriate to visit, what should I do then?"

I started a draft, and then was stuck for some time. I was stuck in resentment, I'm sorry to say; holding tight to small wounds and thoughtlessness, all of which led to more "Don'ts".

The Probloggers How To group writing project is a good opportunity for me to push through -- how to let go of old hurts and write a How To article in one push. So:

How to visit friends who are ill; especially those struggling with chronic illness:

Fibromyalgia's New Foe ...

 

Read this one through your skeptic glasses -- it's a press release:

High-Tech Medical Device Shows Increasing Efficacy for the Debilitating Symptoms of FMS

Wednesday September 6, 6:00 am ET

CINCINNATI, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Fibromyalgia patients worldwide are seeing rapid improvement in their symptoms from a high-tech medical device indicated for depression, anxiety, insomnia, and pain.

The device employs two distinct technologies, Microcurrent Electrotherapy Technology (MET) and Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES), to treat psychological and physical symptoms. It has been used by professional sports teams, such as the Dallas Cowboys and Indiana Pacers, and pain specialists to treat pain disorders successfully. Recently, rheumatologists have begun prescribing it for their fibromyalgia patients who are reporting significant results.

"The results are so positive in such a difficult-to-treat population that one becomes skeptical," says Robert S. Katz, M.D. of Chicago, IL while responding to a study on the device. "However, it is hard to dispute the present data. 90% of the patients treated with the CES reported improvement in quality of life."

. . . Marilyn Lins, M.D., of Utica Neurological Surgery, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma said that the results she has been obtaining have been close to miraculous. A pain specialist, Dr. Lins reported on several fibromyalgia patients who have had sufficient pain relief to resume normal activities with as little as two 20 minute treatments per week. . .

Uh huh. We shall see.

But have any of you heard of this thing?

Interesting & Mysterious

 

From Forbes, of all places (& be warned, popups!):

Flexible Joints a Curious Clue to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

SUNDAY, Sept. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic fatigue syndrome has been accepted as a medical condition for almost 20 years. Once passed off as a series of sometimes ambiguous complaints about pain in the joints and a general malaise -- primarily by females -- the condition was confirmed by medical researchers as  bona fide in 1988. . .

What he and other researchers found was puzzling, to say the least.

Sixty percent of the 60 children and teens they treated for chronic fatigue syndrome also had hypermobility in at least four of their joints. Only 20 percent of the general public has a single hyperflexible joint, such as being able to bend a pinkie 90 degrees backward, touch the thumb to the forearm, or bend at the waist and rest both hands flat on the ground. . .

Their findings, which appeared in  The Journal of Pediatrics, added a vexing wrinkle to the current thinking on chronic fatigue syndrome. . .

Rowe emphasized that having hyperflexible joints doesn't mean a person will have the syndrome. Just how the two are related is little more than a guess, Rowe and Jason agreed. . .

I'm intrigued, partly because I have hyperflexible joints -- always have. Even at my age and weight, I can still bend at the waist and put my hands flat on the floor, and nearly touch my thumbs to my forearms. The latter is less flexible than it used to be, though; a bit of arthritis, I think.

Odd, isn't it?