Daily exercise and pain relief: Meet @jenatsky

JOHN: How did you find Mayo Clinic Connect? What motivates you to take part in the community?

@jenatsky: I was looking for answers to questions pertaining to my chronic pain and associated symptoms. Answers from doctors and my own research had not yet satisfied my curiosity. I have a 20-year employment history in nursing and 10 years of medical record auditing and medical coding. But I was never involved in chronic illness or rehab and had never taken care of chronic patients like myself as well. It was unfamiliar territory.

Members on Mayo Clinic Connect share numerous stories and concerns about so many variations of illnesses. It’s refreshing to see what people had tried and either failed or succeeded to alleviate their symptoms. I felt I could contribute and offer my educated input considering my medical background as well as experiences from my own back ailment.

JOHN: What about Mayo Clinic Connect makes you feel comfortable to share and to be open with the community?

@jenatsky: I’m pretty much an open book and call things like I see them. Having worked in the emergency room of a large city hospital in critical care and public health nursing, I tend to look at illness as just part of a lifelong journey to the end. I try to offer advice that might help someone improve their situation.

JOHN: What support groups do you participate in?

@jenatsky: I participate in the Spine Health, Neuropathy, and Men's Health support groups.

I especially enjoy the Men’s Health support group and hope it will continue to grow. The Neuropathy support group helps me with my own issues with neuropathy. 

JOHN: What surprised you the most about Mayo Clinic Connect?

@jenatsky: Sometimes I see members make suggestions about medications, which concerns me. I try to obtain clinical information to correct potential errors that I see. 

But equally surprising and welcome are the vast number of resources available to members provided by the volunteer mentors in their fantastic responses. And speaking about mentors, I think the information and resources posted by you @johnbishop and @jenniferhunter have been especially helpful. They have shown me what Mayo Clinic has to offer reference wise. 

JOHN: What energizes you? How do you find balance in your life?

@jenatsky: I have a long history of volunteering. At the age of 14, I volunteered at a hospital near my home and later as a young adult, I volunteered with the community ambulance in my hometown. I’m an active blood donor and an organ donor. 

Participating in the Mayo Clinic Connect forum is another way for me to volunteer, which considering my physical limits, is all I can currently offer.

Luckily my wife is a clinical psychologist. She helps keep my head on straight and keeps me balanced. 

I center my day around pain relief. I exercise to relieve my pain, walking 2 to 3 miles daily and performing my home exercise program (HEP) twice a day or more if needed. My pain medications and cannabis alone don’t do the job completely and I have found I can start out exercising in pain but end up with no pain afterward. 

JOHN: Tell us about your favorite pastime or activity.

@jenatsky: I get the most enjoyment out of cooking, which I learned in Boy Scouts. For people who may not know, in Scouts when you cook, you don't have to do KP (kitchen patrol). I preferred cooking rather than cleaning up after cooking. 

Even when I traveled for work, I cooked on weekends, preparing meals for my wife to have during the week. She doesn’t cook. Now that I’m retired, I get to cook every day and absolutely love trying new stuff.

JOHN: Do you have a favorite quote, life motto or personal mantra?

@jenatsky: “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”

JOHN: What food can you simply not resist? 

@jenatsky: Very easy answer: dark chocolate!

JOHN: Puppies or kittens? 

@jenatsky: Dogs when I was young and healthier. Now, we have a 6-year-old rescue kitty.

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