Enjoy The New Additions To Our Blog

So happy to announce that our blog has finally gone truly GLOBAL! Thanks to Google Website Translator, you can pick any language and enjoy our blog in your native tongue. 

Now you can SEARCH our blog including all posts AND all "Helpful Links" to find exactly what you need. If you are listed in the "Helpful Links", your blog and all your posts are automatically searched anytime someone does a search on Pain Sufferers Speak's Main Blog. This will mean more traffic for you on your blog or website.

PLUS Now you can follow our blog through EMAIL for the first time! AND You can still subscribe to our RSS and many other feed options, and join through Google, and Networked Blogs as well.

All 3 NEW Additions are available right now! Come check them out!!

Have a wonderful weekend Everyone!! Sending you all love, hugs and many blessings for happiness and peace during this Holiday Season--no matter where you are and what you celebrate!! Liz : )

Speak Up!

Chronic Pain Sufferers: Speak Up!

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
This post was written by Melanie Matthews
http://hin.com/blog/2008/09/16/chronic-pain-sufferers-speak-up/

In pain? The Joint Commission is recommending that sufferers of chronic pain “speak up.” The Joint Commission is launching a national campaign to help Americans work with their healthcare professionals to better manage pain. The new education campaign is part of The Joint Commission’s award-winning Speak Up™ program that helps patients become more informed and involved in their health care, and coincides with Pain Awareness Month in September:

The framework of the Speak Up™ program urges patients to:

Speak up if you have questions or concerns, and if you don’t understand, ask again. It’s your body and you have a right to know.

Pay attention to the care you are receiving. Make sure you’re getting the right treatments by the right health care professionals. Don’t assume anything.

Educate yourself about your diagnosis, the medical tests you are undergoing, and your treatment plan.

Ask a trusted family member or friend to be your advocate.

Know what medications you take and why you take them. Medication errors are the most common health care errors.

Use a hospital, clinic, surgery center, or other type of health care organization that has undergone a rigorous on-site evaluation against established state-of-the-art quality and safety standards, such as that provided by The Joint Commission.

Participate in all decisions about your treatment. You are the center of the healthcare team.

********************

I found this online and had to share it with all of you! This is AWESOME advice for ALL patients, not just people who suffer with chronic pain and chronic illness!!
Have a meaningful day! Sending love and blessings to all of you!! Liz : )

Thank you and Welcome!

We have become such a beautifully diverse global community!! I LOVE this family we have created!!

 These are the official facebook community page countries with stats:

686 Indonesia
429 Egypt
330 United States
225 India
37 United Kingdom
33 Canada
12 Australia
9 Saudi Arabia
4 Philippines
4 South Africa
3 United Arab Emirates
3 Malaysia
3 Netherlands
2 Denmark
2 Germany
2 Pakistan
2 Hong Kong
1 Austria
1 Cyprus

These are the official country stats from ClustrMaps.com on our BLOG:
Click on the map at the top of our blog to look at the global map!
http://painsufferersspeak.blogspot.com/

United States (US)	345
Washington (WA) 53 California (CA) 37 Texas (TX) 36 Florida (FL) 19 Illinois (IL) 13 Colorado (CO) 13 New Jersey (NJ) 12 New York (NY) 11 Pennsylvania (PA) 11 Georgia (GA) 10 Tennessee (TN) 9 Virginia (VA) 8 Maryland (MD) 8 Michigan (MI) 6 Massachusetts (MA) 6 Oklahoma (OK) 6 Iowa (IA) 5 North Carolina (NC) 4 Ohio (OH) 4 Missouri (MO) 4 Arizona (AZ) 4 Oregon (OR) 4 Arkansas (AR) 4 Indiana (IN) 3 Wisconsin (WI) 3 Kentucky (KY) 3 Minnesota (MN) 3 Utah (UT) 3 New Hampshire (NH) 2 South Carolina (SC) 2 Alabama (AL) 2 District of Columbia (DC) 2 Vermont (VT) 1 Louisiana (LA) 1 Hawaii (HI) 1 Wyoming (WY) 1 N/A 31
	Canada (CA)	37
British Columbia (BC) 16 Ontario (ON) 11 Alberta (AB) 7 Quebec (QC) 2 Manitoba (MB) 1
	United Kingdom (GB)	37
London 4 Leeds 4 Angus 2 Telford and Wrekin 2 Surrey 2 Wigan 1 St. Helens 1 Cheshire 1 Doncaster 1 Lancashire 1 Edinburgh 1 Somerset 1 Lincolnshire 1 West Sussex 1 Wrexham 1 Milton Keynes 1 Newport 1 Kingston upon Thames 1 Worcestershire 1 Northamptonshire 1 Stoke-on-Trent 1 Bournemouth 1 Birmingham 1 Bristol 1 N/A 4
	Australia (AU)	17
Queensland 5 Victoria 5 New South Wales 5 South Australia 1 Western Australia 1
	Malaysia (MY)	10
Negeri Sembilan 5 Kuala Lumpur 4 Selangor 1
	Netherlands (NL)	8
Noord-Holland 7 Overijssel 1
	France (FR)	7
Rhone-Alpes 7
	Italy (IT)	6
Emilia-Romagna 6
	India (IN)	5
Madhya Pradesh 2 Punjab 1 Delhi 1 Gujarat 1
	Brazil (BR)	4
Sao Paulo 3 Minas Gerais 1
	Philippines (PH)	3
Manila 2 Quezon City 1
	Japan (JP)	3
Chiba 2 Wakayama 1
	Singapore (SG)	3
N/A 3
	Ireland (IE)	2
Dublin 2
	South Africa (ZA)	2
Gauteng 2
	Poland (PL)	2
Slaskie 1 Malopolskie 1
	United Arab Emirates (AE)	2
Dubai 1 Abu Dhabi 1
	Russian Federation (RU)	1
Voronezh 1
	Romania (RO)	1
Bucuresti 1
	Germany (DE)	1
Berlin 1
	Serbia (RS)	1
N/A 1
	Denmark (DK)	1
Hovedstaden 1
	Belgium (BE)	1
Antwerpen 1
	Austria (AT)	1
Wien 1
	Croatia (HR)	1
Zagrebacka 1
	Malta (MT)	1
N/A 1
	Mexico (MX)	1
Jalisco 1
	Saudi Arabia (SA)	1
Makkah 1
	Aruba (AW)	1
N/A 1
	Grenada (GD)	1
Saint George 1
	Chile (CL)	1
Tarapaca 1
	Bangladesh (BD)	1
Dhaka 1
	Taiwan (TW)	1
T'ai-pei 1
	Spain (ES)	1
Murcia 1
	Greece (GR)	1
Attiki 1
	Korea, Republic of (KR)	1
Kyonggi-do 1
	Cyprus (CY)	1
Limassol 1
	Israel (IL)	1
Tel Aviv 1
	Tajikistan (TJ)	1

And these ClustrMap Blog stats are only from July 1, 2011.  There have been 4,719 blog visitors since we started blogging on April 17, 2011.

Each of these numbers represents one of you. Each of you is a valued asset to our community, because you each bring your unique skill sets, knowledge, and wisdom to our collective knowledge. I feel knowledge is power and more powerful IF you share it with others. What you choose to share about yourself, your illness, your family, your pain will most likely ring true for at least one other person. You might bring hope and inspiration to someone who really needs it. Sometimes just knowing you are not alone in your pain is enough to get through a really hard day--I know I have lived with chronic pain and illness for 15 years. I encourage each of you to POST POST POST on the wall here on our facebook community page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pain-Sufferers-Speak/112276272164064

Contact me on Twitter with a Tweet or DM to @painspeaks
http://twitter.com/#!/painspeaks
Join me for LIVE Twitter chats at 10pm CST (Central Standard Time-USA) each night my pain allows.

Feel free to add me as a friend on facebook. My profile is under Liz Hall and the email is:
http://www.facebook.com/painsufferersspeak

Join our community hub and BLOG for daily advocacy and FREE resources for everyone of all ages! We have been recognized and listed in the EduBlogs Directory of Educational websites.
http://painsufferersspeak.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in joining our "Members Only" Pain Family Support Group on facebook, request to join by responding to one of the posts on Twitter or one of the posts on the facebook community page or send me an email anytime--I usually add you personally within hours of your request.

Thank you so much for your loyal support of our community and our efforts here at Pain Sufferers Speak. Sending Love and Many Blessings to each of my Pain Brothers and Pain Sisters all over the world!! Wishing you all happiness and lots of pain free and symptom free days!!!

Be sure to let me know if you have a blog, website, or business that our community NEEDS to know about!! Happy to list you on our blog's "Helpful Links" and add your logo or button with a link to your site!

Liz : )
Creator and Administrator of Pain Sufferers Speak