Linda Meilink
Linda
Meilink is an award winning writer, columnist, and
journalist. For ten
years, she was the managing editor for a newspaper
in northern California. She has written for national
publications such as Working Woman and Fibromyalgia
Aware. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia six years
ago. She lives in Modesto, California, with her
husband and two dogs.
PageOneLit.com:
Where did you grow up? Was reading and writing a part of your
life? Who were your earliest influences and why?
Linda Meilink: I
grew up in Toledo, Ohio. My favorite activity as a
toddler was hearing my older sisters read to me. I asked them,
as toddlers do, "Where do books come from?" They told me that
grown-ups wrote books. I was amazed. I guess I thought they were
divinely created, like trees. From that moment, I wanted to be a
writer. My father was a welder but he loved Dickens, Twain,
Upton Sinclair, and especially John Steinbeck. I loved Steinbeck
because he was a journalist/novelist. I like to write
nonfiction, but in a way that grips the reader.
I have a master's
degree in English Literature and I love Shakespeare, Jane
Austen, and T.S. Eliot. I cried at Westminster Abbey, but I
don't know if these writers were influences. I can't begin to
compare myself to them.
My earliest
influence was actually my first creative writing teacher, Larry
Dessner, at the University of Toledo. He really taught me to
write. No sentimental, whiny, junk.
PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Linda Meilink: Because I have to.
PageOneLit.com: What is fibromyalgia (FMS)? What causes FMS?
How is it a threat to life?
Linda Meilink: Fibromyalgia
is a chronic
pain syndrome. Its symptoms are chronic pain in all four
quadrants of the body - above and below the waist and on the
left and right sides. It lasts at least three months. Then you
have loss of bowel or bladder control, difficulty with memory
and concentration, sleep disorders, and constant fatigue. No
specific cause has been determined, but trauma to the central
nervous system or spine, virus, anti-immune disorders, thyroid
imbalance, and pain transmitter malfunction have all been
suggested.
As for FMS being a
threat to life, chronic pain is always a threat to life. It
causes heart attacks, strokes, and suicides. Two of Doctor
Kevorkian patients had fibromyalgia.
PageOneLit.com: What kind of treatments alleviate FMS?
Linda Meilink: You
may be able to alleviate symptoms with acupuncture,
chiropractic, hot baths, warm water exercise, ice packs,
meditation, and the
use of pain
medication. ... my favorite remedy is two scoops of chocolate
ice cream, but that's addictive. You will find books all over
suggesting there is a cure, but none has been found. Often
someone suffers from hypothyroid disease, which has similar symptoms,
and when their doctor discovers the thyroid disorder and treats
it, the doctor and patient assume that FMS can be cured by using
thyroid medication. They write a book and sell a million copies.
But not everyone with FMS has thyroid disease.
There is no
cure, as yet, for fibromyalgia.
PageOneLit.com:
In What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know about Fibromyalgia you write
"my advice for an FMS patient is pick one doctor..." Explain.
Linda Meilink: Finding
a doctor qualified and interested in treating fibromyalgia is
difficult to do. As my own doctor and co-author Dr. Patrick
Rhoades explains, "Doctors can find a way to alleviate the
symptoms of fibromyalgia but they can't do it if they only give
them five minutes of their time." You need a doctor who believes
in fibromyalgia and wants to help. Certainly you
should interview a doctor before you let them treat you. You
certainly don't want to be treated by someone who thinks
fibromyalgia is caused by depression.
I feel doctors who
specialize in chronic pain are likely to know more about the
disorder because that's where most of
us end up. Many doctors are afraid to write prescriptions for
Vicodin because they are afraid their patients will get
addicted. There is a difference between physical dependence and
addiction. If I quit my Vicodin, I will feel ill for a few days,
but I won't be running around looking for a doctor to write me
fake prescriptions. Only those with addictive personalities who
use the drug to get high do that. When I
take Vicodin I don't get high. At best, I get some relieve from
pain. Consequently, my mind doesn't connect physical pleasure
with Vicodin, and I am not an addict. You need a doctor who
understands this and who will not let you suffer needlessly
because he or she disdains the use of strong pain relievers.
Incidentally, the
only drug I have never been able to withdraw from is Cymbalta,
an anti-depressant, from which I have found very limited relief.
PageOneLit.com: In What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know you write music
can be a great pain reliever - Explain.
Linda Meilink: For
me and many others, music has a mystical and mysterious quality
that can be very soothing. It can change my mood, give me energy
when I'm down, or calm me when I'm anxious. Recently there have
been interesting studies on music and the brain. It's
interesting that every culture has it, in some form.
PageOneLit.com: In Chapter 8 you suggest that "Your Job Is Not
Your Best Therapy." Explain.
Linda Meilink: I
am not able to work at a "regular" job and have often been
criticized by doctors and lay people for not working because
having a job would take my mind off the pain. To some degree
that's true, if you aren't too incapacitated. But that advice
led me to a total physical collapse. You cannot work if you can
barely get out of bed. Erroneous advice, while well-meaning, is
actually dangerous to chronic pain patients. Two days before I
left my job, a routine physical exam indicated that my blood
pressure was 210/120. I can always tell what my blood pressure
is by how high the pain is. I am amazed that I didn't have a
heart attack or stroke. That kind of advice also contributes to
thoughts of suicide, since when you can no longer work -- that's
a big one. You feel useless and dependent, and then you have
doctors and friends who scold you for not working. It took three
years to write my book, and it hurt with every keystroke. So I'm
not a malingerer, and I resent all those who implied that I am.
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with What Your
Doctor Doesn’t Know about Fibromyalgia?
Linda Meilink: I
am clearly on a mission. I want to reach out to all those who
have fibromyalgia to give them strength to speak up to their
doctors when they are told their pain is all in their head. I
want to help them find the right kinds of doctors. I want them
to learn everything they can. I think if we band together we can
force the medical community to take us seriously. There is no
shame in having fibromyalgia. But doctors who dismiss us because
they are too busy skiing to read the recent medical literature
about FMS should be deeply ashamed, especially since they are
using our money to finance their expensive trips.
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope readers will say after
reading What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know about Fibromyalgia ?
Linda Meilink: I
hope they will say, I want to learn more about my condition. I
want to have some tests done to check my thyroid, my sleep
patterns, maybe some x-rays. I want them to say, I am not alone.
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Linda Meilink:
Well, I am putting together a blog. I want to work harder to
jolt doctors into taking better care of their patients,
whether they are treating them for fibromyalgia or chronic pain.
Dr. Rhoades wants to write a book on treating chronic pain, and
I would love to work with him on that. I would like to help
establish support groups and lobby for fibromyalgia. I still
have a few books left to write, I think.
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do
they enhance your writing?
Linda Meilink: I
love to sing, play ping-pong and hang out with friends or go to
the movies with my husband. I really like a simple quiet life. I
adore my grandkids. I steal some of my best lines from my
friends, especially my kid sister, Susie. Now that really
enhances my writing.
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