{"id":1645,"date":"2015-04-30T17:40:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T17:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1645"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:54:20","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T17:54:20","slug":"chronic-illness-keeping-current","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness:  Keeping Current"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Seems like each day, one or more of my apps or computer programs has to be updated. And, sometimes, a single app or program updates more than once. Of course, most times, it&#8217;s important to keep these tools updated, but it can become frustrating, especially if you&#8217;re getting ready to close down all the electronic devices, but cannot because of, yes, more updates!<\/p>\n<p>Having so much updating going on around me has made me think of how well I keep current on other matters, especially when it comes to my chronic illnesses. New developments, new knowledge, new approaches to old problems &#8211; sometimes there&#8217;s nothing &#8220;cutting edge,&#8221; but sometimes there is &#8211; it never hurts to ask my doctors for the latest, especially if I&#8217;m having problems with the status quo. And it also is helpful before my next appointments to talk with friends dealing with similar health challenges. Sometimes they have tips and tricks that they&#8217;ve learned, and I can add these to my list of questions for my docs (I always recommend asking treating physicians first before trying anything new). Sometimes, too, there are new books or articles and studies that can be interesting and, possibly, lead to a new approach (but, again, I always run these things by my docs first).<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re in the midst of spring and spring cleaning. If you feel a bit stale when it comes to your approach to life with your illness, next time you visit with your doctor, ask if there&#8217;s anything new. Sometimes, just the question can lead to a bit of fresh air!<\/p>\n<p>Joys,<\/p>\n<p>Maureen<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seems like each day, one or more of my apps or computer programs has to be updated. And, sometimes, a single app or program updates more than once. Of course, most times, it&#8217;s important to keep these tools updated, but it can become frustrating, especially if you&#8217;re getting ready to close down all the electronic&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,1047,578,379,1420,1245,1246],"tags":[29,1678,1682,1679,1680,1681,898],"class_list":["post-1645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-lupus-2","category-pain-2","category-positive","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-illness","tag-feeling-stale","tag-fresh-air-for-life","tag-illness-and-new-things","tag-new-developments","tag-new-treatments","tag-spring-cleaning"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chronic Illness: Keeping Current - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Keeping Current - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seems like each day, one or more of my apps or computer programs has to be updated. And, sometimes, a single app or program updates more than once. Of course, most times, it&#8217;s important to keep these tools updated, but it can become frustrating, especially if you&#8217;re getting ready to close down all the electronic&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-30T17:40:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-27T17:54:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness: Keeping Current - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic Illness: Keeping Current - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Seems like each day, one or more of my apps or computer programs has to be updated. And, sometimes, a single app or program updates more than once. Of course, most times, it&#8217;s important to keep these tools updated, but it can become frustrating, especially if you&#8217;re getting ready to close down all the electronic&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-04-30T17:40:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-04-27T17:54:20+00:00","author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html","name":"Chronic Illness: Keeping Current - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-30T17:40:16+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-27T17:54:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/chronic-illness-keeping-current.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic Illness: Keeping Current"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain &amp; Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}