Daniel Gwynn Blog Update
10/9/12
Troubled Waters

It seems no matter how hard I try to avoid trouble, it finds me anyway. I've been a magnet for negative energy lately.

First, I get a reprimand for using a postage stamp to send my mail out. I received an SASE from a pen friend and decided to use it. The next thing I know, I received a misconduct. Thankfully, I only got reprimanded. Stamps are considered contraband according to some rule.

Next, I get yelled at for being too helpful at work, by helping other prisoners with their jobs; then I hear that I'm taking too long to get my own work done. I clean the staff bathroom & hall. I believe in doing a good job, so to do it right, sometimes it'll take a little longer.

I was then faced with difficulty getting funds for art supplies, which caused me to miss an art show deadline. There's only two big art shows like this a year, where I can sell my paintings. There's not many opportunities to earn a living for a prisoner. So every art show is a precious opportunity to sell my paintings -- my primary source of income. I paint to eat.

I'm also having difficulty getting my mail out to another event. I've made two attempts to post a package containing four paintings. Each attempt I used two different addresses but it was still returned claiming "Insufficient Address", but does not state what this means. I've sent similar packages out all throughout this year, even just as recently as two months ago, with no problems. (I'm still working to solve this one.)

My main problem has been medical (twofold): 1st - I've been taking "Omeprazole" 20mg for a few years now for my ulcers, and now "Pravastatin" 40mg (once a day) for my cholesterol for just as long. I've now been prescribed "Ibuprofen" for Arthritic chronic pains. This combination of drugs has caused a chain reaction of a perpetual toxic flatulence that smells horrible. I'm afraid to be around people for fear of cutting one loose. It happened once in the yard, and everyone thought a skunk was loose. I played dumb.

2nd - It seems the "Omeprazole" I've been taking may have caused my bone chilling Arthritis! I'm suffering something terribly, as I'm in constant pains all day every day, whether I'm awake or asleep. My joints feel like someone is trying to cut through my bones with a dull hacksaw, or sometimes like I'm being stabbed with a hot poker. Medical says there's nothing they can do except provide pain pills, and for the gas they gave me Mytab (which has no effect). I've been exercising and watching what I eat. This has helped me reduce the amount of pills I need to take to help alleviate some of this trouble. It's really embarrassing to be stuck in a row of cages when one of those toxic gas bombs bursts. The other prisoners were trapped as the toxic fumes permeated from one cage to the next. It was really bad. :) :) :)

I'm a little worried about pushing past the arthritic pains & ignoring it, because I could be ignoring some serious injury. I was afraid that I had fractured my foot last month, because it felt like it was going to split in half if I had kept going. It felt that way for a few months. I thought it was the arthritis so I ignored it for a long time. I got it xrayed, but Medical won't give me the results unless it's what I feared. Well, I guess that no news is good news, thank God for that.

Although I've been facing troubled waters, I continue to keep my head up, and take one day at a time. I can't afford to let too much of this trouble get to me. Can't stop the grey hairs from sprouting. Checked the mirror this morning and found ten more than there were the night before. These troubled waters. Can't let them get me down.

Daniel