15 Dec Guilt of Living with Pain, Ranch Pretzels
Welcome to the Newsletter
Rana Law Group Newsletter
In this issue:
- Holiday Hours
- Guilt of Living with Pain
- Ranch Pretzels
Holiday Hours
Happy holidays to all! This year, since Christmas and New Years Day are both on Saturday, they will be observed on Friday, 12/24 and 12/31. Our office will be closed on those days for the much needed three-day weekends! We hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones and we wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season. We look forward to working hard for all of you in 2022!
Guilt of Living with Pain
Since we primarily handle personal injury and workers’ compensation cases, many of our clients experience some type of pain. Some are fortunate enough to make a mostly full recovery while others end up having some degree of pain for the rest of their life. While doing research for this topic, I was shocked to learn 1 in 5 people live with chronic pain from various conditions such as lower back pain (very common in injury cases), migraine headaches or arthritis. The definition of chronic pain differs in terms of length depending on which doctor you speak with but, for purposes of our post today, we will use greater than one year.
The guilt for individuals begins when they realize empathy from those around them starts to wane as we cross into the months and years timeframe. While loved ones, co-workers and even doctors may begin supportive and understanding after the initial trauma or diagnosis, as time passes, people can start getting impatient and less understanding of the person’s pain complaints and limitations. A mentality of “oh big deal, we all have pain, just deal with it” starts creeping in, along with potentially blaming the individual for their own contributions to pain complaints or lack of recovery. This is typically not lost on the person who is dealing with the pain, who may start hiding the pain, minimizing it or, worse, avoiding situations entirely such that others do not get the opportunity to witness the person in pain.
How can we help someone dealing with chronic pain? First, doctors and medical providers must resist the temptation to give into compassion fatigue. Helping people all the time and with multiple problems can cause a person to become numb to complaints (which is arguably needed, similar to a closer in baseball who must come back out the next night ready to go after getting shelled for runs the night before). For those around the injured person, trying to empathize with the person and working to be more patient can help, especially if you believe the person is not a malinger (faker), as is often claimed by the insurance company in injury cases. Lastly, for the person who is in chronic pain, the person must also strive towards acceptance and validating of pain complaints so that the person is able to best advocate on their behalf. This includes seeking counseling and support networks of others also living with pain, which can help cope with their “new normal”.
Chronic pain is rampant in our society, however, by creating greater awareness, perhaps we can help those suffering live a better life.
Ranch Pretzels
Every year, my wife makes these ranch pretzels from a recipe she learned from her aunt Paula. She passes them around, along with some cookies and miscellaneous knick-knacks. Without fail, almost everyone asks about the pretzels so I thought I would share the recipe with everyone. The secret? Use gluten free pretzels. They are crunchier and taste better than regular pretzels. Try one and I guarantee you will be hooked!
Ingredients:
1 Packet Ranch Dressing Mix/Seasoning
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp. Dried Dill Weed
½ – ¾ Cup Olive Oil
14-20oz. Bag of Mini Pretzels (gluten free pretzels work better than regular pretzels for this recipe)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Mix ranch dressing mix, spices and olive oil together.
Pour over pretzels and gently stir.
Bake on 1 or 2 sheet pans for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
Cool and enjoy!
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