{"id":1661,"date":"2015-05-15T01:19:46","date_gmt":"2015-05-15T01:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2015-05-11T19:31:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-11T19:31:52","slug":"chronic-illness-and-pain-all-tied-up-in-ribbons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/chronic-illness-and-pain-all-tied-up-in-ribbons.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness and Pain: All Tied Up in Ribbons?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of J Frasse\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I noticed that the cashier at a store where I shop was wearing a red dress ribbon, for heart health. I commented on it, and she said, “Oh, yes, we had a promotion for cancer awhile ago. I like the ribbon.”<\/p>\n

“Isn’t the red dress for heart health?” I asked.<\/p>\n

The cashier thought about it and said, “Oh, I guess your right. I get these ribbons confused sometimes.”<\/p>\n

And, so do I. For every color in the rainbow and more, there seems to be an awareness ribbon. And with so many causes linked to so many colored ribbons, I’m beginning to think that the overall effect of each individual cause is becoming diluted, at least on first glance.\u00a0Lupus, for example, has been associated with purple, but also with orange (although, to be fair, that color generally is on a loop). \u00a0As for the multi-colored ribbons? Oh, I give up!<\/p>\n

With May being Lupus Awareness Month, I thought I’d add to the conversation by saying that whether we have lupus or another illness, really the best way to gain awareness is to be our eager and articulate selves. We live the disease each day, so why not use our experiences as our ribbons, disseminating information to our circle of loved ones first and then, as we grow that circle, to others. If we put the money spent in manufacturing and distributing ribbons and other things, into research and verbal awareness campaigns, thing how much farther along we could be, especially with such under-funded diseases as lupus!<\/p>\n

If you feel as if you’re all tied up in ribbons, you’re not alone. But by tackling the “knotty” problem with positive communication and example, we can make it very clear, yes loud and clear, that there are many things beyond ribbons and loops – there are people – and that is truly the point.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I noticed that the cashier at a store where I shop was wearing a red dress ribbon, for heart health. I commented on it, and she said, “Oh, yes, we had a promotion for cancer awhile ago. I like the ribbon.” “Isn’t the red dress for heart health?” I asked. The cashier thought about it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,43,1242,4,1047,578,383,379,1420,1245],"tags":[1712,1711,29,18,1713,30],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-heart-health","category-lupus-2","category-pain-2","category-positive","tag-awareness-of-disease","tag-awareness-ribbons","tag-chronic-illness","tag-lupus","tag-making-a-difference-with-illness","tag-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness and Pain: All Tied Up in Ribbons? - 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\/05\/chronic-illness-and-pain-all-tied-up-in-ribbons.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness and Pain: All Tied Up in Ribbons? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I noticed that the cashier at a store where I shop was wearing a red dress ribbon, for heart health. 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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 & 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\/1661","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=1661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1662,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions\/1662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}