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Articles by Laura Webb

Emotional Pain can Aggravate Physical Pain
By: Laura Webb    Friday, Feb 17, 2012
Driving Miss Zoe Last fall, I made the painful decision to give my 13 year old Lab, Zoe, peace and had her put to sleep. It was a very difficult decision as she was always head strong, defiant, yet loving and happy even during her last weeks when she stopped eating and fought taking her heart pills to ease her congestive heart failure. Even the previous morning, as frail and weak as she appeared, Zoe insisted on joining me and the other dogs on our morning walk and ran out the door when her 'daddy' returned home from work to drop something off before leaving again.For days, I struggled to try  ...Read More
Health Coach, Life Coaching
The Doctor's Visit
By: Laura Webb    Saturday, Feb 11, 2012
Conditions: Chronic Illness and Pain
While I try to keep my postings upbeat and optimistic, for the sake of full disclosure, I must confess that I am in the midst of a fibro flare-up. Some people call it crashing but to me, crashing is sleeping for hours or days on end and I don't sleep well. It's just another symptom. A flare-up is a sharp increase in pain in certain places. When I was younger, pain would migrate - one day my hips, another my neck, ankle, or wrist. But for several weeks, the pain settled in my knees and hips and hasn't moved. Perhaps it's a sign of age. I continued with my daily routine - walking the dogs every  ...Read More
Health Coach, Life Coaching
Chronic Pain - Consider this Info from Medical Professionals
By: Laura Webb    Tuesday, Feb 07, 2012
Conditions: Chronic Illness and Pain
I recently listened to a podcast from the City Club of Cleveland and Ideastream that my mom told me about. The impressive medical panelists: Salim Hayek, MD; Jeffery Janata, MD, and Catherine Koppelman, MD are affiliated with University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University, who provided what I found fascinating information on chronic pain from psychological, medical, and patient advocacy perspectives. There were several points that continue to resonate with me. First, I found these statistics of chronic pain astounding: 116 million adults are suffering from chronic pain;  ...Read More
Health Coach, Life Coaching
The Importance of Pets when Managing a Chronic Illness Argus: The Dog Who Saved My Life
By: Laura Webb    Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012
Conditions: Chronic Illness and Pain
Long before Argus found me, I knew his name. Argus was the ever faithful dog waiting for Odysseus to come home from his adventures. Adopted from the local shelter, the 8 week old lab mix knew I needed him when he kept staring at me from his cage. It freaked me out a bit to have a puppy stare at me. When I reluctantly picked him up, Argus wrapped his front paws around my neck, rested his head under my chin and I knew he was coming home. Raising Argus was relatively easy for a lab puppy. His favorite toys were library books, and I was a big supporter of the library that first year. He hated ...Read More
Health Coach, Life Coaching
Even with Chronic Illness, Dreams Can Be Achieved
By: Laura Webb    Sunday, Jan 29, 2012
Conditions: Chronic Illness, chronic pain, or disability
As I describe the past week, remember that I have CFS and Fibromyalgia. Life's surprises can all come at once. A week ago, my husband's niece called and said a horse had been abandoned near her friend's house and asked if we wanted him. Who couldn't resist falling for that face.we wanted him. He is a beautiful Palomino, only about 4 years old, and all we would have to pay is feed and vet bills while our niece nurses him back to health and works with him. Mas Amigo is beautiful and am sure he's getting fattened up and gets lots of TLC from our niece Our niece attends Texas A & M and plans ...Read More
Life Coaching, Personal Development
Advocate for Your Health
By: Laura Webb    Thursday, Jan 19, 2012
Conditions: Chronic Illness, chronic pain, any illness or disability
Do you like your doctor? Do you have your doctor’s full attention when you are sitting together in the examination room? Does your gut tell you that how and why you are being diagnosed with an illness just doesn’t sound right, especially when you are seen for about 7 minutes? Yet there are important letters after his/her name proving your doctor knows what he/she is talking about. I recently finished, reading Jerome Groopman, M.D.’s book, How Doctor’s Think, and it provides powerful insight into the thought process doctors go through when making a diagnosis. Though he ...Read More
Life Coaching, Personal Development
Wished a Coach Had Guided Me Through Chronic Illness
By: Laura Webb    Friday, Jan 13, 2012
Topic: Chronic Illness
I remember the insidiousness of the diseases going back to my twenties - yeah, I was really old. Even as a child, I was not really sickly but there were many days when I didn't feel good and my mom would take my temperature, say I was fine and send me off to school. So having times of feeling tired and crappy for no apparent reason did seem normal to me. When I was first diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia, I had been feeling poorly for so many years that I just assumed that was what happened when you get old. Imagine my surprise when a new doctor took the time to ask ...Read More
Life Coaching, Personal Development
Why I Coach People with Disabilities
By: Laura Webb    Saturday, Jan 07, 2012
Topic: Chronic Illness
Many years ago, I had reconstructive knee surgery. I lived in Denver at the time (no it wasn't a skiing accident but a feisty horse) and my mom and sister came to visit me for a few days post surgery. We went to a museum and since I was on crutches, I decided to use a wheel chair for the first time. It was long before I was diagnosed with CFS and fibromyaglia and my first experience as less abled than the general public. My sister was my guide through the museum and every time we stopped to view a work of art, people would be careful of my extended leg, swaddled in padding and ace bandages, ...Read More
Life Coaching