Hello @peach414144,

To not get as many email notifications from the Chronic Pain pain group, follow these instructions:

- Click this link, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/pain/
- In the top box that explains what the group is about, click on the Following button in the bottom right corner
- Choose the "Include messages in my email digest only" option

This should slow down some of the email notifications from the Chronic Pain group (and any other group you choose to complete the same process for)

To not get as many emails from the Welcome conversation in particular in the Chronic Pain group, follow these steps:

- If you are responding by email, click VIEW & REPLY on the bottom of this notification
- Scroll all the way to the top until you see the original message posted by Kelsey
- Click on the +Following button
- Choose another option besides receiving an email each time a post is made.
- Be sure to click on Update after both of these steps

These steps can be applied to any conversation and group. Whenever you participate in any discussion you are automatically subscribed to receive email notifications for that discussion so you would need to complete the above steps to try and limit your notifications. I hope this helps and I hope I made this as clear as possible. If not, do not hesitate to ask me to clear anything up or explain it a bit better!

@peach414144, I forgot to mention, the best way to view these conversations and to not get lost is to always click VIEW & REPLY on the bottom of the notification so that you will be taken to the website. Once you are on the website you can see the conversation in its entirety and the responses make far more sense when they are laid out in order on the website.

My trick is to click VIEW & REPLY, read through the discussions in order, and then you can simply delete the notifications as you have already read through the updates on the website! Always clicking on VIEW & REPLY really does make things much easier and more understandable.

Amen to that! That's exactly the way I navigate through the discussion email notifications. It does make it easier.

Have same overabundance of emails .  Will try your suggestions. Wish me luck!Virtuous 69

DEAR HAZEL: WONDERFUL POST. VERY SIMILAR TO MY DAY. BUTTERFLIES (MANY, MANY) AND THE HUMMINGBIRDS DO THE SAME AT MY PLACE. ONE DAY I WAS WAS LYING ON THE GRAVITY CHAIR AFTER TAKING PAIN MEDICATION AND I HEARD A HUMMING . THERE WAS A HUMMER JUST 3 FEET FROM ME AFTER A WHILE HE WAS STILL THERE STARING AT ME. SO I GOT UP TO REPLACE THE EMPTY FEEDER WHICH HE WENT RIGHT TO. MAKES A WONDERFUL DAY SEEM SO GOOD. AND TO THINK HE WAS TELLING ME TO FEED HIM. SMART BIRD. IT WAS A GOOD DAY EVEN WITH THE PAIN.

Peach, I think that all animals are such intelligent little--or big--beings. (We humans aren't always.)

I love the sound of hummers zinging around overhead. Yes, they hang around our empty hummer feeders and tell us that they're empty.

The cats love to watch them from indoors; our cats are indoors only. Our tiny Yorkie is also fascinated by them. Our big dog is less than enthusiastic. Give her a treat, take her for a walk, give her a ride in the car, and she's thrilled out of her mind. She's somewhere between 16 and 18, and she's a lab/hound mix. She's been with us for about 5 years. The Yorkie is 12, and he's been with us for about 4 years. The cats are all rescues and seniors, as well, except for one FIV+ cat who's about 5 or so, and who was going to be euthanized at a local shelter for being FIV+. His "owner," a school teacher, left him outdoors all of his life, where he was no doubt beaten up by other cats and thus became FIV+. He has scars all over his sweet face. He's just a big, huggable guy.

We lost our 18-year-old Persian boy, Red, about 2 weeks ago; he'd been with us for the last 14 years. I still feel that I see his sweet little self out of the corner of my eye. I work at home, and if I didn't have the critters around, I'm sure I'd be very lonely.

Hazel

@blindeyepug When you say that doctors are "independent contractors" I am not sure if you are saying they work for themselves, that's what it sounds like. Around here almost every PCP is actually employed by one of the hospitals. I wish they were in private practice because as hospital employees when a patient of theirs is in the hospital that patient's care is handed over to the various hospitalists -- whomever you may get, varying even daily.
I have been agonizing about changing my PCP, he does not seem to be into doctoring anymore, but changing is difficult because any of the doctors who are half-way good are no longer accepting new patients. There is one doctor whom I hear good things about and he is independent because he is a concierge doctor but being that, insurance/Medicare does not cover the yearly fee to be be part of his practice.
There are number of locations of Dartmouth-Hitchcock clinic in NH, at least four that I can think of, affiliated with Dartmouth College/Mary Hitchcock Hospital. Not one of them is taking new patients!
JK

@jimhd Forgive my poor memory, please. Would I be correct in assuming that if you are taking Generlac you have cirrhosis as I did? Yes, I believe Generlac is the generic name and lactulose is a brand name, or possibly the reverse.
Having had a transplant I thankfully no longer take lactulose but when I did take that vile stuff I never tried it with chocolate. I would mix it with some flavored soda water, that helped. It still upset my stomach though, and if I ate an egg afterwards I got really sick.
Chocolate does make everything taste better -- my favorites are very dark, and white. Not a big milk chocolate fan.
JK

@hazelblumberg I initially did not want a smart phone either but then there was so little else to choose from I eventually capitulated. Now I love my smart phone. First, I wear hearing aids and the reception on my cell is 100% better than on my landline. I now have hearing aids where the conversation is streamed directly into my hearing aids so that is even better than my old hearing aids that were better on their own than my landline.

I am taking many medications now, at many different times of the day. With my smart phone I have alarms set for each medication -- 9 settings and that does not include an antibiotic I am currently taking 4 times a day, but I do also have a setting to remind me to pack my morning medications because I generally leave the house before taking them so I bring them with me.

I never initiate facetime but if I ever have grandchildren (my son and daughter are apparently late bloomers when it comes to that, they are 35 and 37) I will be happy to be able to see them.

I also like the fact that when I am in a waiting room I can use my phone to entertain myself, not with games, I do none of those, but reading news, email or other things. I will not read magazines in doctor waiting rooms or other waiting rooms because they do get germy and being on immunosuppressants I am very susceptible. Speaking of which, the germiest place in a restaurant is the menu for that same reason.

Also, if you are looking for directions when you are driving you can look them up on your phone. Considering how reluctant I was, now I love my phone.

Once you have a smart phone you can't help but love it. I just got a new Iphone 7.
JK

Hi, JK. I'll have to check to see what Blindeyepug means by doctors as independent contractors. I consider my doctors and dentist to be MY independent contractors. I hire them when I need them; they're not permanent on-staff employees of mine. Anyway, that's just my feeling about them. I understand what you mean when you say that your PCP doesn't seem to be into doctoring any more. That's how I felt about my dentist. He was phoning in his performance from far, far away, and he just didn't care any longer.

Hazel