Some lessons have been learned from others who have shared their extreme (and odd) circumstances. Living with a chronic medical condition, such as pain, sometimes helps us to develop keen problem solving skills, such as contingency planning. A contingency plan is like a back-up plan; it usually has several “If this happens, then I have to do X instead of Z.” statements in it. The stories below illustrate how others like us have had to figure out ways to ensure a good outcome the next time we ourselves in a tight spot.
Have you ever been trapped in a public restroom hoping someone else would come in because the door was too heavy to pull open? How long did you have to wait until someone came to the rescue?
Contingency Plan: Always carry a cell phone or, in areas without reliable service, a whistle
Contingency Plan: Travel in pairs when you can; let another know where you are going, if you cannot.
Have you ever gotten stuck in the snow while walking? Recently, one of us fell into deep snow while going down to retrieve the Sunday newspaper. It was 6:00 in the morning and 10 degrees outside with 10 inches of new snow that fell overnight. Actually, she fell twice. The first time she was able to get up with some difficulty and thought it would be a shame to turn back after coming this far and falling. Then she fell again into deeper snow. She couldn’t get up, couldn’t see any traffic going by, didn’t have her cell phone with her and knew nobody in the house knew she went outside and would not be up for a couple of hours. She soon realized that she had no option other than figuring a way out. She crawled about 10 feet to get to shallower snow, stood up and made it back to the house. By that time, she was queasy, shaky and drenched in very wet, icy clothes.
Have you ever fallen elsewhere and could not get up? Another one of us fell inside the house and lay for hours until her children came home from school. In a separate event, she fell outside on the steps leading up to the porch. It was in the middle of the day when all of her neighbors she knew were at work, the kids were in school. She felt helpless, lying on the steps without any way to get help and scared that she could not defend herself had someone taken advantage of the situation. She laid there for about two hours before the pain eased enough to allow her to crawl up the steps and into the house to get to a phone to call for help.
Contingency Plan: Remember to grab your cell phone or whistle before you venture out alone.
Contingency Plan: Plan ahead. Admit that you may need someone’s help, then, ask before the unthinkable happens:
Some newspapers (and other delivery services too) offer customers with health issues the option of having the paper delivered to the door instead of throwing it at the end of the driveway.
Reach out to neighbors who may be willing to offer an assist on inclement days while driving or walking by.
Find a neighbor, friend or family member who does not work outside the home who you can call (and they can get to you quickly).
Consider investing in a personal medical alert system (there is a variety of brands on the market, such as; Lifeline, ADP-Personal, American Senior Safety, Miracle Alert and more); they alert emergency services or the agency headquarters when pressed and paramedics can be sent. If you live alone or if there are not neighbors close by or ones you can count on, this might be a high on your “to do” list.
Have you ever been rudely awakened to the sound of a chirping smoke alarm at 3 am and not able to replace the batteries safely in the wee hours of darkness? Thinking about how one might be able to climb up and replace the battery without aggravating a pain flare or risk taking a fall due to dizziness and poor lighting while climbing a step ladder is not a wise choice. This happened to one of us, so she decided on the side of safety and put in some ear plugs and went back to sleep. In the morning and light of day, the complex manager was called but not available. After some thought, she called on her neighbors who were delighted come to her aid. They changed out all the batteries in the 4 smoke alarms and was thanked for their efforts with a gift of homemade jam.
Contingency Plan: Have a list of people you can call on to help with tasks you can no longer safely do on your own.
Contingency Plan: Perform or arrange for preventive maintenance of your home. For example, change your smoke alarm batteries every spring & autumn—using the seasonal time change may be a helpful reminder.
There are other stories, lessons learned and contingency plans that people with pain have experienced. What are yours? Let’s develop a list of “If this happens, then I have to do X instead of Z.” We can share our collective wisdom and help others avoid the pitfalls which we learned about “the hard way.”
Posted in Coping Techniques
http://paincommunity.org/whats-back-plan/
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