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December ramblings from the "Doc"

Not a lot to ramble about this month other than to say that we had 2 very enjoyable events: the Christmas Meal at Haskins and the Christmas Party at the church hall. Thanks to everyone who contributed the time, food and company to make these occasions such fun. I am looking forward to the ongoing support of this wonderful group of people in 2012.

KPWP Christmas Lunch 2011

Jessica and Ken

KPWP Quiz winning team 2011 with Jessica, our quiz originator.

November ramblings from the "Doc"

Today we were visited by not one but three lecturers from the University of Southampton Medical School. Sally, our friendly neurophysiologist, brought along a sociologist and psychologist. Together they presented the lecture that they give to the first year medical school students about how each of these branches of science contribute to the understanding of the experience of pain. The purpose of this was partly that they thought we would find it of personal relevance and partly to ask us our opinions of the content. Well it was certainly interesting to all present and it sparked some lively debate, especially when they explored the cultural context of pain.

The December meeting will be our usual Christmas party. Thank you to all who have promised to contribute to the festive fare. There will also be a chance to purchase craft items and a contribution from the sales will go towards our rent money. Jessica has prepared another of her famous quizzes so bring your thinking caps along with you. The usual £1 Secret Santa Christmas present distribution will also happen. I must confess to finding the £1 limit quite challenging so I will apologise in advance to the poor individual who gets mine! I also look forward to seeing those who booked at the Christmas Lunch on December 5th.

October ramblings from the "Doc"

We had an open meeting this month and it offered a good opportunity for a chat and getting to know one another even better. We used the afternoon to reintroduce the library to everyone. It is stocked with a wide variety of up to date books on all aspects of pain but we feel it is underused. It is accessible at all our meetings so we hope we have encouraged people to at least have a look. We also welcome suggestions for any other helpful texts, CD's or DVD's that members would like us to purchase. We still have a little money left from the amount Lisa raised to establish the library in the first place, so there is money for some restocking.
We also talked about ways of raising money for the group. Up until now our rent was paid by sponsorship from two drug companies. Due to tightening of the rules governing drug companies, one of them has had to withdraw their support. We therefore have a short fall for the coming year of £320.00. One suggestion was for the "crafty" members of the group to donate some of their handy work for people to buy at the November meeting for Christmas presents. Another suggestion was to approach local businesses for small amounts of sponsorship. The advantage of this method is that is also spreads the word about our existence to encourage new members. A reminder that our Christmas Party will be on Thursday December 15th. So far we have organised for Jessie to do one of her quizzes and Dorothy to do a raffle, but are open to any other suggestions of suitable entertainment. It will be another "american supper" so food contributions will be welcomed and we will make a list of what people would like to bring at our November meeting. We will do our usual "secret santa" to the value of £1- always affordable and good for a laugh!

September ramblings from the "Doc"

What an enchanting afternoon! I arrived a tad late to find the whole group chanting, led by our favourite yogini Fran Hodgson. The atmosphere was something special, calm and yet energised. The sound was beautiful. Many of the members commented that they even surprised themselves by feeling able to join in and actually enjoying it. Fran explained that most chants are written in Sanskrit, a language which developed to be spoken and not written, and hence was so lovely when heard aloud. We practiced chanting the word "om" which in Sanskrit means "to sound out loudly" and is believed to be the sound of the universe. Getting pleasure from making music is not exclusive to any particular religion and we also had fun and laughter splitting into 2 groups and singing the traditional Quaker song "Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning"
Apologies, but I am going briefly to mention the "C" word! By popular request, I have been asked to arrange another Christmas lunch party. I propose once again that this should be lunchtime on the first Monday of December. Please bring along suggestions of venues with sample menus and prices to the October meeting so that we can choose the most popular place to grace with our custom.

Contact details for Fran are:

Fran Hodgson, Yoga Teacher (Dip FRYOG) and Yoga Therapist (registered with the Complimentary & Natural Healthcare Council) Email

August ramblings from the "Doc"

Endorphins are the body's own natural pain relieving hormones and they can be stimulated by engaging in pleasurable activities such as eating chocolate, laughing, meeting as a group for mutual support and even having fun making paper beads! I therefore thought it would be significant if the paper beads craft session this year involved making the paper beads out of pictures of endorphins themselves! Endorphins have crystalline structures and can be photographed using clever microscopic techniques. I hunted the internet for such images only to be disappointed to find that they existed in expensive photographic libraries protected by copyright. That is until I found the link to a wonderful scientist called Dennis Kunkel who generously allowed me to print off some copies of his beautiful image of an endorphin for free in order to cut the strips of paper needed to make paper beads. We were therefore able to spend a pleasant afternoon making endorphin beads and incorporating them into eye catching keyrings.

Photo of endorphin, pictured on the left, kindly provided by Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc. Image copyright Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc. (www.denniskunkel.com).

We then indulged in even more endorphin producing activity - sampling the delights of home made scones served with cream and jam. The scone making was ably judged by Sally, Jim and Dorothy and this year's worthy winner was Tracey for her excellent cheese variety.

The Keeping Pace August 2011 "Scone Off"

And the winner is -

Tested by:

July ramblings from the "Doc"

A varied programme this month. We welcomed Babs Sharp, musculoskeletal manager for Solent Health Care once more to the meeting. She came to report back the results on the focus group discussing our experiences of the provisions for Chronic Pain in Solent that we had been part of in January 2011. One of the overwhelming feelings that had come out of the discussions was that patients with chronic pain wanted their GP's better informed and for there to be specialist GP's or practice nurses in the community such as already exists for other chronic illnesses such as diabetes or asthma. Babs took this message and others to the commissioners of health care in this area and has offered to revisit the group in 1 or 2 years time to report back on progress.
We then had a fascinating time discussing art! Linda, Kathy, Mark and Elliott from the University of Southampton Medical School Humanities department brought works of art done by 1st and 2nd year medical students in which they attempted to portray their ideas of the patient experience. The pictures are to be displayed at an art exhibition in the university. The lecturers who brought along the pictures wanted feedback from patients. The exhibits certainly generated lively discussions and the comments were recorded for use when the art work is displayed. Many of our members are keen artists and they have been invited to contribute some of their work for inclusion in the exhibition. I hope everyone is practicing their scone making ready for next month's "scone off". A trophy is up for grabs - if we can extract it from Chris, last year's proud winner!

June ramblings from the "Doc"

Yet another action packed meeting full of contributions from our members. We heard about Kay's passion for art and how she find the bright colours she uses therapeutic, Janet explained her love of photography and how it compliments her other fondnesses for dogs and embroidery, Ian told us all about how his ability to play drums had led to an opportunity to help the disabled people who attend the Hounsdown Centre for respite care, Mike spoke about how he shared Janet's passion for photography describing his preference for film and enjoyment of nature and balloon festivals and Kevin told us about his drama group and forthcoming productions. Steve reminded us of his sponsored swim and dog rescue in the Solent in aid of Hearing Dogs for the Deaf. This is happening on July 2nd at the Town Quay Arena, Southampton and anyone who can go along and support would be greatly welcomed. Steve is due to get wet around 11.00-11.30 am!
On a more serious note Ken talked about how distressed members of the group are about the closure of Padwell Road Day Care Centre and his contact with social service to register our displeasure.
Lise is writing an article for Hythe Life Magazine. She is particularly keen to write about personal experiences and to promote Keeping Pace. If you are able to share with her your stories about why you come to the group and what it means to you, she would love to hear from you. Her email is lisemarron@btinternet.com

May ramblings from the "Doc"

This was an amazingly dynamic and thought provoking meeting. The first session was chaired by our good friend Sally Curtis from University of Southampton Medical School with heart felt contributions from members Chris, Steve, Jess, Mike, Kay, Kevin and Janet. They had formed a focus group and had spent the last 18 months looking at the similarities between living with chronic pain and stages of grief and loss. The members of the focus group bravely stood up and shared their experiences of working through these thoughts and ideas. They then distributed the booklet that they had produced with the results of their deliberations for the group to comment on.

If anyone missed the session, or attended the session and have questions they'd like answered, then all the members of the focus group are happy to be contacted on an individual basis. I am sure the group will return to tell us what they have learnt from the feedback.

Kay then told us about her work as a recently appointed ambassador for Grunenthal, a new role in which she will be spreading the word about living with chronic pain to pharmaceutical employees and health professionals. She showed us a film that they have made of her in which she describes her experiences. She came across as a brave and self contained person, who has overcome many things during her pain journey. I'm sure the positivity and courage she demonstrates will be a great source of both inspiration and information to those who live with pain or work with those who have long term pain.

April ramblings from the "Doc"

This month Tracy led another inspired art session, nobly assisted by Kay. It was on the theme of Maori Koru art and several members definitely connected with their native side! Art always seems to allow the group to join together in relaxation and conversation. We also spent some time revisiting the Keeping Pace Support Group ground rules to refresh us all about our core beliefs and purpose. A copy of these can be found using this link.....Ground Rules

These rules are important because we are a voluntary group of people who meet for mutual support. We don't have a constitution and so our Ground Rules basically define our code of practice.
Next month we welcomes back Sally and look forward to hearing the findings of the focus group who have dedicated a lot of their time thinking about and discussing Chronic Pain and Loss.

Sally's Loss, Grief and Chronic Pain Handout - Click Here

"Wellbeing" loaf which Mr Cotton sells in his shop. (Click here for information) It is full of healthy grains and seeds and is additive free.

Keeping Pace With Pain

Southampton Based Chronic Pain Support Group

Venue - Avenue St Andrews, United Reformed Church, The Avenue
Southampton SO17 1XQ

3rd Thursday of each month 1pm-3pm

Informal Setting, Guest Speaker, easy parking, disabled access, refreshments

ALL MEMBERS OLD AND NEW WELCOME

Forthcoming dates for your 2012 diary - Time 1pm to 3pm

(Print a copy of the meeting dates here)

• February 16th 2012 – Helping Dogs
• March 15th 2012 – Happy Birthday KPWP – 7 years old today! Also Jacquie Trim, Acute Pain, Lead Nurse on her talk to the Commissionaires.
• April 19th 2012 – Hands on Art Session
  

A Talk on Stages of Grief and Chronic Pain with Dr Sally Curtis

Donate to charity for free. Every day go to The Hunger Site and click the special link on the homepage, its prominently displayed sponsors donate a cup of staple foodstuff to someone starving. Once you have clicked on that site visit the other sites listed at the top of that page and do the same.

The Library is open!!

For an idea of some of the books we have and a short review of them click Here

For further information on our group, please contact Chris or Steve on 023 8046 5019