Daughter, Wife, Mom, Talk Radio Show Host of “Change Is In the Air “

Degenerative Disc Disease, fused discs in my lower back, bone and spine damage caused by a severe case of Osteomyelitis type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stage 2 kidney disease, depression, anxiety, severe sleep apnea, along with a host of other smaller irritants associated with these issues and the medications needed to help me live with all of these things.

The pain I live with stays with me 24 hours a day.  It NEVER leaves.  Dealing with all this, beginning with the pain, is what moves me to loneliness and social isolation.

Pain has a way of forcing you to focus on ONLY it, which is why I end up alone in my room in my bed, not wanting anyone near me.  When you live like this day after day and night after night, I definitely sink deep down into the dark depths of loneliness.

How do I fight back to find days of livable joy?  For me, I have several tools that help me gain victory.

First is my faith and my relationship with Jesus Christ which teaches me to move through my life by being LOVE to others.  You know the saying that says the quickest way to get yourself off of your mind is to help someone else.  That is what I fight and purpose to do daily.  Say something kind to someone, ANYONE, even if it’s someone like a bill collector who may not be behaving all that nice to me.

The other loving thing I have that helps is the laughter that my husband of over 38 years and my 15 year old miracle son bring to me.  They know how to make me laugh even when I don’t want to.

Another tool is my incredible pain management team who are the absolute best medical rock stars working together with me to deal with my pain.

Also, I use praise and worship or even my favorite secular music!

The final tool I am blessed to have is the love of my beautiful circle of friends, my chosen adopted kids, and loving family.  These are the things I use to free myself from social isolation, loneliness and pain I live with from my body in my life.