List of G-PACT.ORG groups

Following is a copy of a posting G-PACT had on here Facebook wall 4-26-2013.  I tried to do a Link to this specific post, but it would not work right.  So here you go:

G-PACT has been asked a lot recently about our support groups. Here is a list of groups we provide and the specialized focus of some of them.

Support Groups: We provide multiple support groups for various issues and age groups. These groups are great places to exchange ideas with others and get some support from others who understand. Just about any question you have can be answered by someone in the groups usually. Groups are a great place to meet others online and have led to many in-person gatherings as well. Great relationships and lifelong friendships are formed.

Yahoo: www.yahoogroups.com/group/gastroparesis

– largest online support group for GP and CIP on the web with over 3,000 members.

G-PACT on Inspire: www.inspire.com/groups/g-pact-gastroparesis-and-cip/

– a community of support groups for a variety of conditions all in one location.

Facebook: We have a number of group options in Facebook:

G-PACT: Coping with Gastroparesis and Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction- general group for all issues related to life with GP and CIP (aka: DTP- Digestive Tract Paralysis) – www.facebook.com/groups/GPACT. Great group to connect and meet others from all age groups and backgrounds. All DTP related topics are discussed here. It is a safe place to share feelings, ask questions, exchange ideas, and share experiences with others. Do not take any information provided as medical advice. Discuss all suggestions with your physicians first!

The Gutsy Teen Lounge: Very active, engaging group for teens/young adults with DTP located at www.facebook.com/groups/gutsyteenlounge

Kid Bits: Group for parents or caregivers of kids with DTP located at www.facebook.com/groups/kidbits

The Gutsy Guys Garage: Group for men who deal with gastroparesis to hang out and talk. No women allowed! www.facebook.com/GPACTGutsyGuysGarage

Family “Rays”ing: Group for people who have DTP and are trying to raise a family at the same time- www.facebook.com/groups/familyraysing

Spouse House: Group for spouses who are dealing with someone with DTP located at www.facebook.com/groups/spousehouse

Gutsy Sibs cafe: Group for siblings to hang out and share experiences of life with a brother or sister with DTP located at www.facebook.com/groups/gutsysibscafe

Share the Grief, Have Belief: CLOSED, private group for people who have lost loved ones to DTP, not just online (although those losses are hard) but in more of a personal, family, caregiving type atmosphere. Must e-mail publicrelations@g-pact.org and ask to be added or request to join and wait for approval by an administrator. Located at www.facebook.com/groups/sharethegrief

The Bellycommunicator: Positive thoughts with GP and CIP: Group dedicated to only positive thinking, comical stories, inspirational quotes, and all things positive to help group members laugh and see the positive side of life. No medical posting (unless a comical or inspirational story) or medical questions allowed. This group was created for people who can’t handle medical stuff all the time, but still want to connect with others who have DTP. Located at www.facebook.com/groups/TheBellycommunicator

G-PACT Supply Depot: Group where members post medical supplies they have and supplies they need so patients can swap when in need. Shipping arrangements made directly between donor and recipient. www.facebook.com/groups/gpactsupplydepot. This is an excellent group and patients in need have received tube formula, supplies, pumps, feeding backpacks, and other medical devices as a result of this group. Non-DTP specific related items such as wheelchairs, canes, breathing devices, and other medical devices also allowed. Guidelines on what is allowed to be transferred from patient to patient are listed (no medications, heparin flushes, insulin, etc can be swapped). Other guidelines listed (i.e. note expiration dates on formula, keep sterile things sterile, etc)

G-PACT Middlers: Group for those in their 20’s-40’s trying to hold down a career, get married, start a family, or deal with dating issues. Group for those between college and nearing retirement to discuss issues related to the young adult years. www.facebook.com/groups/GPACTmiddlers.

Wrinkled Guts- Maybe the name is humorous, but all of our guts are wrinkled. This group is for the late 40’s, 50’s and beyond members who need to discuss issues related to retirement, career, grandkids, adult children, and life with DTP as other age related health issues set in. Located at www.facebook.com/groups/wrinkledguts.

Prayer chain- This group is dedicated to people who like to pray and believe in the power of prayer. It is open to praying for suffering DTPers or ANY issue weighing heavily in the minds and souls of DTPers that they would like to share with others. Prayer requests may be posted. www.facebook.com/groups/DTPrayers

International Groups:
G-PACT Canada: Group for our Canadian friends to connect with each other. www.facebook.com/groups/GPACTCanada

G-PACT Down Under- Group for people who live in Australia or New Zealand to connect. www.facebook.com/groups/GPACTDownUnder

G-PACT UK- Group for G-PACT members from the UK to connect and share information about resources available there. www.facebook.com/GPACTUK

 

New Group Added …. UPDATE …. 7-20-2013….

G-PACT Successfully Living with DTP  — This group is for individuals dealing with milder forms of DTP who want a place to discuss their diseases in positive way.

Pain, Pot & Politics

There has been a lot of chatter regarding using marijuana/pot for pain management, that it inspired me to look into it further.  I can see pros/cons to both sides and wanted to dig deeper with on-line research to try to figure it out.  For the record, I am not ‘picking a side’.

Did I mention that I live in WA State where they are fighting for it to become legal (the degree is not known, considering how the Feds feel about it).   But the tax money it will generate for wonderful programs, the amount of big brother regulations, was the aspect that I liked.   However, some business’s in WA are now putting pot into food and drinks.  This concerns me, as a parent.  They make the products look kid friendly.

I do not encourage nor discourage the use of Marijuana for your pain management.  In watching my mother-in-law suffer in pain due to cancer, I can NOT tell anybody how to live their life.  She was on a morphine pump at home and no amount of it would help her.  And she had a very high tolerance to pain.  It is a heartbreaking experience to witness and I can not imagine going through it!

Cannabis Sativa, aka: Pot, Herb, Mary Jane, Grass, Weed, Marijuana, Dubby, Reefer, Roach, Dope (and the list goes on).  I believe has the most nicknames of any ‘drug’ we have ever had in our society.   That is just a guess.  The statistics I have found very greatly in the number of people that used and whom are addicted.  For this blog I will say it seems to be about 4% of American Adults have consumed at least once a year and 1 out of 300 Adults are addicts.  Again, each place I read something different.

In all honesty I have never used it, but was around it in my college days.  I never saw the point in doing it, after watching my ‘friends’ get high and act stupid.  That is a degree that I am NOT talking about here when discussing for ‘medical use’.  Medical use pot seems to be about 3 ‘puffs’ a day, from most pages I have read for this research.  But, I will leave it up to the consumers in how much you need.  That is an area I am not going to get involved in.  What you do is up to you and I have no business being in your business 🙂   I am just stating what I read for those that are interested in the topic. Here is a list of my findings for the estimated 76 Million Chronic Pain Americans (again, my stat is not gospel).

What pot can alleviate:

• Relief of chronic pain
• Suppression of nausea
• Increase/restore metabolism
• Relief of muscle spasms

Research has been done in the following areas with great success:

• Glaucoma – pot relieves eye pressure
• Cancer
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Epilepsy
• Chronic Pain
• Anxiety – in the proper dose, pot can elevate your mood and expand the mind
• Depression
• Obsession
• psychologically/spiritually enhancement

Side Effects of Pot (just in case you didn’t know):

• Rapid heart rate
• Increased blood pressure and breathing
• Red/Dry eyes
• Slow reaction time
• Increased appetite – aka, munchies
• Short-term memory loss
• Paranoia,  anxiety and depression

From the articles I have read with medical research I can see great benefit from the substance, in moderation.   However,  I was not able to find out too much on how your body adapts to it over time.  If your body would build a tolerance to it and if so, would the higher dose still benefit you?  At this time that would be my only concern, should I decided to go down that road at a later date.

There are so many different types – what is best for me?

Here are the very basics:

• How much it helps depends on the hybrid.
• Stativa is very good for night time sleep and pain
• Indica is good for daytime energy and mood.
• Both (above) help nausea, however Indica is better.

Here is a very helpful website to help you: www.leafly.com

The decision is yours, just make sure you are responsible as a user and respectful of others who do not share your opinion.

Cheers to Germany and Belgium for their legal use of it and a healthy working society. Links to some of the page I went to for this blog:

• Cannabis Research Center:  http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/
• http://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/medical-marijuana-for-chronic-pain.aspx
• http://www.michaelshouse.com/marijuana-addiction/street-names-for-marijuana/
• http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/news/20100830/marijuana-relieves-chronic-pain-research-show

BLOG UPDATE:

18 Legal Medical Marijuana States — List as of 7-1-2013 — Per ProCon.Org

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000881