Featured Articles

 

Walking in Santa Fe

by Elana Zaiman

Liv Fun: Vol 3 – Issue 1

I walk every day. I swim a couple times a week. I shoot hoops with my 13-year-old son. I bound up and down the stairs.

At least, I used to.

The pain began innocently enough, with a swollen finger, then a pinch in my left hip that feels, every now and then when I put my left foot forward, as if my skin is seeping under my pelvic bone and getting stuck on the bottom of it on the w ay out. I go for an x-ray.

The x-ray is normal. Therefore, I am fine. I continue on with my life until my entire pelvic area begins to ache and walking becomes difficult.

A rheumatologist tells me I don’t have arthritis. He sends me to PT. Still, he runs blood tests for conditions like psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Sjogren’s, and lupus — all negative. And I learn something: 20% of people with arthritis test negatively for the condition. Still, I begin to doubt my pain. I begin to doubt myself. Surely this pain is a figment of my imagination.

After a two-hour PT appointment, the pain worsens. My body is breaking down and taking me down with it. I avoid taking the Tramadol, but my siblings convince me it’s better than being in pain. I begin to bargain with God. “God, I get it. You’re telling me to slow down. If I listen, You’ll stop the pain, right?”

Read Entire Article

Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Spring 2014
View Table of Contents

 

Older, Wiser, Happier
by John de Graaf

I have spent the last four years immersing myself in the subject of happiness. What makes us happy? Who is happy? What matters more, attitudes or life conditions? Can national policies make us happier?
Read More

 

Finding Meaning at the Boundaries of Life
by Sandy Sabersky

We like to think that we are free. Free from boundaries and limitations. Yet, though we talk about freedom, ultimately we are bound — by our bodies, health, minds, and age, and by what forms the border of our life — death.
Read More

 

Walking in Santa Fe
by Elana Zaiman

I walk every day. I swim a couple times a week. I shoot hoops with my 13-year-old son. I bound up and down the stairs. At least, I used to. The pain began innocently enough, with a swollen finger, then a pinch in my left hip that feels, every now and then when I put my left foot forward, as if my skin is seeping under my pelvic bone and getting stuck on the bottom of it on the way out.

Read More