If you enjoy foreign flicks, this is a great one with subtitles.  There is nothing better than watching a movie from another country to give you a cheap vacation viewing another homeland. 

Víctor is a child who is found casually roaming by a country road. His mother, Patricia, a well-known lawyer who specializes in media trials, soon learns of her son being found. Victor is taken to hospital and his mother soon follows, where it is explained by the mother that Víctor is deaf and mute, but can communicate using sign language which is why Victor didn't answer any of the questions asked by police. In the police headquarter Víctor explains that he was kidnapped by a strange man when he entered his school. The police identify a possible suspect named Charlie, a man with money troubles and an 8-month pregnant wife. Charlie is unable to explain where he was when Víctor was kidnapped. Patricia, seeing the inability of the police to arrest Charlie, contacts her former love interest and Victor's father, Raúl. Patricia solicits him to threaten Charlie in hopes of confessing. But when it's discovered that Víctor made a false identification, Patricia tries to stop Raúl, starting a chain of events, the consequences of which will be out of control. - IMBd

​Having a great care team is vital when you have a chronic illness. Who should be part of your team? How do you find doctors and caregivers that treat fibromyalgia effectively and that you can trust?

I spent a majority of my adult life trying to figure this out. My original primary care physician did it all and never failed me. I went to him for everything. He thought it was important to find out why I was having certain problems, unlike some doctors who only treat the symptoms. Just as my FM started to ramp up, he had a heart attack and had to retire early. I was devastated. I lost a confidant and an excellent physician. Little did I know how hard it would be to replace him.

I finally found an excellent primary after a lot of trial and error. But as my health began deteriorating, she was no longer able to keep up with my many underlying illnesses. After my FMS diagnosis, she referred me to an alternative medicine clinic. There wasn’t much she could do for me except for annual checkups and the occasional sinus infection.

The alternative medicine clinic was a bust. My insurance wouldn’t cover anything but the initial consultation. I couldn’t afford to continue. I was on my own!

I found that building a care team requires thinking outside of the modern medicine box. Exploring other types of care such as acupuncture, chiropractic, water therapy, and mindfulness can be very beneficial, both physically and psychologically.

Finding the right fit for primary care provider is the hardest part. They need to understand and know how to treat FM. They also need to be trustworthy and compassionate. We do not need to be judged or treated like hypochondriacs.

I think I’ve built a solid team of professionals. Besides my primary care, I have a great chiropractor, an amazing massage therapist, an expert physical therapist, and a wonderful and very knowledgeable nutritionist.

Your team may also consist of others outside of the medical field. My team also includes my hair colorist and stylist. They are both amazing women and great friends. They make me look and feel spectacular. Seeing these ladies every six weeks is like going to a therapy session. I can talk freely and confide in them. I love these ladies more than I can say.

So how do you find the right people for your team? Where do you look? I’ve found mine through various means. Some were referrals from family and friends, while others were found via coupons and deals.
I used Groupon and Living Social to find my acupuncturist and massage therapist. I tried four massage therapists at significant savings. Watch for specials and promotion codes that can save you even more. I bought a 90-minute massage for $22! Of course, I researched all of the practitioners before I made any purchase.

I’ve also found ideas from message boards and online support groups. Asking others who live in your area whom they recommend has also produced some great resources. I wouldn’t have stumbled upon them on my own.

You may also find care providers through your current providers. Your massage therapist may be able to recommend someone or may share office space with a chiropractor or acupuncturist.

I’m very fortunate to have access to free care at a wellness center. It’s well worth traveling more than 100 miles round–trip. The pain management program has helped me immensely. The doctors understand chronic pain and FMS. I was told my pain was real. I never had a doctor tell me that before. Most ignored my pleas for relief or made me feel like I was just after a prescription for painkillers. Here, they treat me with dignity and respect.
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Finding the right care team is difficult, but it was the most important thing I’ve ever done for my health and well-being.

​Who is on your care team?

When I saw that Nutrition Response Testing (NRT) is offered free of charge at my wellness center, I had to give it a try. What could I lose besides an hour of my life? Could this help my chronic pain, brain fog, inability to sleep, and my poor memory? I’m so desperate for relief, I’ll try almost anything.

The entire premise of NRT is based on energy. Just like acupuncture, energy (or “qì”) flows between your organs and other parts of your body. This flow can be disrupted, which may cause various health issues. This procedure is a way to find the cause of an underlying illness or symptom.

Some diagnostic tests are done at the beginning of the exam, including blood pressure and pH level. I completed 70 questions on a form regarding my symptoms. My answers were entered into a computer program and analyzed.

“You aren’t getting any sleep, are you?”

That was the first thing the doctor said to me. This put me at ease because I felt like I had come to the right place. She knew what I was going through! We talked at great length about my health and what I needed to do to feel better.

She was spot–on about everything. She told me my health is very poor and that I can’t go on this way any longer. She asked if I was ready to make a huge change. Yes, I am if it will help my pain. With that, she had me jump on the examination table to do a “hands–on” exam that measures my neurologic reflexes.

The exam goes like this: You extend one of your arms and the practitioner applies light pressure to that arm. They use their other hand to apply light pressure to certain organs and other areas of your body. If the reflex being tested is stressed, your nervous system reduces the energy to your extended arm. This causes your arm to weaken or even fall. That response indicates there is either stress or dysfunction in the area that is negatively impacting your health.

The results of my exam indicate that my pancreas is sluggish and my gallbladder is working overtime. She said the cause of my fibromyalgia is sugar. I know that sugar causes inflammation and I thought I tried very hard to avoid it. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. It was in almost everything I ate! She told me I must give up sugar in all forms now or I will only continue to become more miserable and take years off my life.

I knew she was right. She wasn’t trying to sell me anything or get me to come back regularly. She gets paid a salary from the wellness center. Patients and insurance are not charged for any part of the test or follow-up appointments. It doesn’t matter to her if I take her recommendations or not. She’s unbiased. She has no reason to lie or lead me on.

From now on, I must eat whole foods. No processed, grain-feed, pesticide-treated food. No more alcohol, bacon, fried foods, white rice, or potatoes. Me, the person who never met a vegetable I liked, needs to start eating them ASAP? Yikes! This is a huge challenge, but one I must take head–on.

Because my muscle tone is that of a 70– to 80–year-old, I was given an easy exercise plan to follow. It consists of light walking for 10 minutes a day and using hand weights four times a week. Building muscle tone is essential to my health.
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She gave me four supplements that aid in digestion and boost energy. They were pretty inexpensive. I won’t go broke doing this plan. - Referenced by Carrie Anton

This Netflix streaming movie is a powerful wake-up call for America and the judicial system.  Backpage, a site much like Craiglist, utilizes Section 230 to protect the rights of its Internet moguls.  While it is widely understood that certain privacy acts should be granted, this one allows the buying and trafficking of children right here in our own backyards.

The epic battle that several American mothers are waging on behalf of their middle-school daughters, victims of sex trafficking on Backpage.com, the adult classifieds section that for years was part of the iconic Village Voice. Narrated by Academy Award-nominee Jessica Chastain and directed by award-winning filmmaker Mary Mazzio, the documentary follows the journey of these young girls and their mothers in real time as they run headlong into a collision course not only with Backpage but with judges, powerful corporations, special interest groups, and an outdated internet freedom law that has been interpreted by federal judges to protect websites from any responsibility for hosting ads which sell underage girls. I AM JANE DOE is a gut-wrenching human story and fresh look at a social and legal issue that affects every community in America. - IMDb

A recent article by Maureen Newman left me perplexed.  I can't imagine not diving into my daily routine of an afternoon nap. In fact, I am certain that I would not be able to function through the evening if I eliminated this resourceful rest each day.  I'd love your thoughts on the following piece.  

When patients with fibromyalgia nap during the day to cope with their symptoms, their symptom severity may actually increase, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. A collaborative team of researchers in New Zealand, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Germany gathered data from an online questionnaire distributed to 1,044 adults with diagnosed fibromyalgia and noticed that frequent and longer naps taken during the day corresponded to greater symptom severity.

“Given the common use of daytime napping in people with fibromyalgia, evidence based guidelines on the use of daytime napping in people with chronic pain are urgently needed,” stated the authors. Before this study, no other groups had investigated the benefits or detriments of daytime naps on patients with fibromyalgia.

The research team was help by the Fibromyalgia Association UK and FibroAction UK to distribute advertisements about the researcher’s questionnaire. Responses were collected for half a year, beginning in September 2010 and ending in February 2011. The questionnaire gathered data on age, sex, and other population descriptors, as well as measures to assess daytime napping behavior. From these data, the researchers divided the patients into two categories: those who regularly napped and those who napped less frequently than once a day.

As described in “Daytime Napping Associated With Increased Symptom Severity in Fibromyalgia Syndrome,” the majority of daily nappers did so during the afternoon without meaning to take a nap. Only 22.5% of participants indicated that they plan their daytime naps. Generally, patients nap because they are tired or exhausted, do not feel well, need to make up for a bad night’s sleep, have a headache, or are experiencing pain. Younger patients napped more than older patients during the day, both in frequency and in duration.
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Relating these napping behaviors to fibromyalgia symptoms, the researchers noted that daily nappers had an increased prevalence of comorbidities and pain. A statistical model could predict the class of 65.4% of participants when napping behavior and symptoms were considered.
Fibromyalgia patients experience persistent pain, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and disturbances in nighttime sleep, which affects their ability to conduct everyday activities and makes napping during the day lucrative. Although napping makes patients feel better at the time, this study suggests that overall symptom severity may worsen as naps become longer and more frequent.

“Born to Win” is based on the true story of a troubled man named Leon Terblanche, a teacher at a school for disabled children, who finds himself confronted with the question, “Where is God?” This question sets him on a journey where he discovers that he has never been alone through all the hurt and brokenness of his past. He learns that no matter how broken you are, God is always our living hope. “Born to Win” shows how God turns the hurt, frustration and emptiness of a man into hope, faith and victory to inspire many others to be the winners they were born to be. - Dove Channel

This one is adorable.  You'll find this a wonderful pick-me-up after a long day.

Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a screenwriter and aspiring novelist. Vacationing in Paris with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams), he has taken to touring the city alone. On one such late-night excursion, Gil encounters a group of strange -- yet familiar -- revelers, who sweep him along, apparently back in time, for a night with some of the Jazz Age's icons of art and literature. The more time Gil spends with these cultural heroes of the past, the more dissatisfied he becomes with the present. - Google

Here's one woman's issues with memory loss and how she deals with the daily drudge of digging up memories that can easily be forgotten.

I used to take great pride in the fact that I had a sharp memory. I was the go-to person at work because I had a knack for remembering every little detail.

Fast forward 10 years, and I have trouble remembering names of friends and family. Spelling has become a huge issue for me. How can I forget to spell common words? I can’t tell you how thankful I am for spellcheck.

I feel like all that I do is fall more and more behind because I can’t remember what I must do. I’m overdue on cleaning my house, responding to emails, writing my column, and getting a major work project done. It’s all because I keep starting something then need to stop to do something else that is more important. I have very good intentions but never seem to accomplish half of what I need to do. I also lose track of time. I don’t know where it goes, but I bet I forgot to do something during that time!

I seem to run around in circles and never really accomplish anything. I forget appointments, birthdays, events –you name it, I’ll forget it. I forget to have a lunch ready so I don’t have to run out during work. I hit snooze another time because I forgot I have an early doctor’s appointment.

Writing lists that I forget about later is a big waste of time. I’ve even tried emailing myself but forget to check my account the rest of the day.

I started complaining of memory issues over 10 years ago. I was told it was age-related…in my early 40s! I knew it wasn’t my age, but I got nowhere with my doctors.

Now it’s getting to the point of being very troubling. I try to adapt by taking copious notes at work. My boss frequently tells me I don’t have to write things down, but I DO have to. I know I have a better chance of not remembering something than I have of remembering it. I’m at a loss of what to do about this dilemma.

I leave myself voicemail messages if I really need to remember something. I’ve given up asking others to remind me of things. When they forget, I’m the only one to blame, and it isn’t fair to bring them into my mess. If I lived alone, I’d get a blackboard or message board in every room to remind me.

I just started using a calendar app, but so far I haven’t been very consistent. My goal is to make it a habit. I need to get back on track. Maybe some structure will help.

I use a pillbox to help remind me to take my 17 various medications and supplements each day. I still forget, but not as often as before.

I found that when I don’t get enough sleep, my ability to remember is almost nonexistent. Thinking is a struggle. Add in some brain fog and I might as well just stay in bed. Getting a decent amount of sleep is nearly impossible with fibro, but it is vital for our health and well-being. I’ve started setting an alarm an hour before bedtime to remind me to quit messing around and get ready for bed.

Having your memory fail you can be scary, frustrating, and depressing. Being told it is just your age or that you’re scatterbrained is infuriating. I have a hard time not letting it get to me, but I know that I am not the only person with fibro who is suffering from this. Getting stressed out about it only makes it worse.

But I try to look at the bright side. When I watch a movie or television show, I can’t remember if I’ve seen it before, so everything is new to me! - By Carrie Anton

This delightfully funny movie was a welcomed relief on Friday evening.  

Dedicated environmental lawyer Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) goes to work for billionaire George Wade (Hugh Grant) as part of a deal to preserve a community center. Indecisive and weak-willed George grows dependent on Lucy's guidance on everything from legal matters to clothing. Exasperated, Lucy gives notice and picks Harvard graduate June Carter (Alicia Witt) as her replacement. As Lucy's time at the firm nears an end, she grows jealous of June and has second thoughts about leaving George. - Google

This archival footage and interviews highlight the life and career of singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, from her musical rise in the 1960s to her battle with alcohol and heroin addiction.

Electrifying and mesmerizing it will keep you on the edge of your seat as you take a more intimate glance at the life of Janis Joplin.