Another 3+ months gone by as proof of what a derelict blogger I am...I've been debating whether or not to even continue the blog, but if you're reading this, girls, then it's worth continuing to post. :)

Well, I've been off all medications since March 9th, so one and a half months today! For the first month off the meds, I was virtually pain free. I've had some pain return, but I believe it is stress related. About the time I was going off the medication, a co-worker introduced me to a book by Dr. John Sarno. It's called "Healing Back Pain" (The Mind-Body Connection). I'm not going to go into what the book says, because it would take long to explain, but I HIGHLY recommend it if anyone reading this is suffering from chronic back/neck pain or even fibromyalgia/Myofascial pain or a host of other chronic pain syndromes. The only thing I don't like about the book is that Dr. Sarno is not a Christian and talks about evolution. I simply put his clinical findings through my biblical-worldview lens and I am even more in wonder at how God has made the human body.

Anyway, I believe what he teaches in this book is true. And to just give an extremely brief synopsis: After working as a specialist in the field of back and neck problems for years and years, he discovered that the vast majority of sufferers of chronic neck and back pain (and other pain syndromes) experience pain that is related to the repression of tension and not to any structural problems at all. My pain has significantly declined since reading the book and I have not even been taking Aleve.

One of my daughters asked me, "Mom, are you upset that you wasted all that time on medication and going to doctors and being in pain all that time?" and I said, "No, because ALL of that was part of God's sovereign plan for me. God used the pain to bring me to a doctor who put me on a medication that caused me to gain weight in order to teach me some serious lessons about how how seriously off course I have been in regards to my perfectionistic mind-set concerning my body. Nothing is wasted with God and I'm thankful for His hand in every single occurance of my life. Yes, I believe that He is THAT sovereign and I'm thankful for it.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." - Proverbs 16:9

I will try to give more frequent updates. As I said, I went a literal month with no pain at all. I have had some return pain, but I'm convinced it's strictly stress-related, and I'm learning a lot right now about what an anxious person I am and how my continuing repression of my emotions is directly related to my pain. And I have great hope that God will continue to teach me all that He wants me to know.