A Couple Resources Added

Dear Blog Readers,

Hello! I added a couple of resources to the resource page. One discusses ways that chronic pain patients in college can get through finals week and the other describes mental coping techniques that are useful for very painful episodes. I would encourage you to check out both of these resources, as I have personally found them very useful.

As always, you may find these resources under the resources tab, and I will continue to add resources throughout the semester.

Thank you, and if you are in the South Dakota area, stay strong! I have heard there is a blizzard coming and I know that blizzards can exasperate pain for people with certain chronic pain conditions.

Update-1st Poem!

Dear Blog Readers,

This is just an update letting you know that I now have figured out how to set up the "published writing" page so that I can put several different pieces of writing on it. I have put one of my own poems up, but I would love to have writing from other chronic pain patients as well. As I gather submissions, they will appear on the "published writing" page.

If you are interested in submitting writing to be published on the blog, please see "submission guidelines," which is linked on the bar at the top of this website.

If you are looking for the survey, it is also linked on the bar at the top of this website, or you may access it here.

Thank you.

Lessons-Poem

Lessons

By: Leah A. (Blog Admin)

My migraines have taught me what it means

To have pain that stabs and twists at every sudden noise, every bright light,

                                                                                       

And they have shown me the beauty of those rare pain-free days

When energy radiates through me like sunlight.

Update-First Resources Added

Hello! I have now added my first few resources to the "useful resources" page. I will continue to add resources as I progress with my project.

Thank you!

Update-Submissions and Survey are Open!

Dear Blog Readers,

Hello. I am now accepting writing submissions to publish on this blog. For more information, please see my submission guidelines. I encourage all of you to submit something. I will publish poems and prose as I receive them, so keep checking for updates.

I also have opened my survey. For more information, see the survey page.


Additionally, I will add useful resources for chronic pain patients as I progress with my class project, so even though there aren't any resources listed now, there will be.

Thank you!

Surviving After the Holidays with Chronic Pain

Some Friendly Encouragement:

 January can be a tough time for people. The holidays have ended, and valued friends and family members have returned home. However, I think this time of year can pose an even greater challenge to chronic pain patients.

As a Chronic Migraine patient and a college student, I struggle with returning to college after the holidays. My body rebels against the complete change in environment, and the different holiday food I ate starts to take a toll on me. As I write this post, I am sitting in a quiet, dark room, trying to calm down the migraine I have had ever since I returned to school. I feel certain that returning to work or even re-establishing a daily return can also aggravate chronic pain. 

If you are going through anything similar,

An Update on My Progress

Update on My Progress:

Dear Blog Readers,

I wanted to update everyone on my progress. I am currently working on drafting my submission guidelines, the about page, and some other pages for this blog/website. They should hopefully appear sometime this week, so keep checking the blog. I will post an update on the front page when these things are done, and I will start accepting literary submissions as soon as I post the guidelines, so if anyone wants to start writing, feel free! (For more information about this blog and how it is part of an undergraduate class project, please see my first blog post).

Also, although this is technically a blog, this website will mostly be a literary community for people with chronic pain. I may not post many "traditional blog" posts, although you will see some occasionally.

Under Construction

Dear Blog Readers,

Greetings! This blog is currently under construction. Please be patient with me, as this is my first attempt at blogging.

For those of you who are wondering about this blog, this blog will be a community where people with chronic pain can submit and share any writing about their pain. This could include poetry, creative nonfiction, or any other relevant kind of writing. I will post the submissions I receive