I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38 and since then I have been through two rounds of breast cancer, seven surgeries, four rounds of chemo, 35 days of radiation and 2.5 of 5 years on cancer meds. The cancer meds cause 24/7 pain. Pain is, unfortunately, a potential side effect of the drugs (and I have tried three different ones). I am now on one that causes me the least pain. Everyone is different and not everyone gets the pain. I have pain medication, muscle relaxers, epsom salts and more to try to ease it, but nothing ever truly takes it away. And that is where coloring, needlepoint and my business come into play.

First, I started designing handbags around the time I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I turned my sewing machine into my therapist. Whenever I was feeling well enough, which surprisingly was quite a bit, I sewed my handbags. About halfway through the surgeries for my first diagnosis I turned it into a business, HKelly designs. Sewing has been very therapeutic, but now that I am running a business, I do a lot more marketing and other things to keep the business going. I still sew but it’s not everyday.

Rachel Amelio www.rachelameliophotography.com Heidi and one of her handbags.

Then one day I started seeing coloring books popping up in my Facebook feed. Now, I had colored as a kid, my mom always had special, really detailed books for me on rainy days. Then while I was working in retail and our store was closing my manager and I would bring in coloring books and crayons and color. We really had nothing else to do since there was one rack of clothing left in the store. Now, just as the coloring craze was starting, I bought my first coloring book from a Facebook friend and local artist. The day it came in the mail I ran out to get crayons. I had given away all mine to my nieces and nephews. It was the start of a craze that has not stopped. I now have various books and also various mediums to use.

When I realized how awesome coloring was, one of my next steps was to have some coloring pieces created for my bags. I would include these as gifts with purchase. This soon developed into a coloring book. Interested? Email me at heidi@hkellydesigns.com.

This past winter, I was visiting my mom in Florida and she had started doing needlepoint. I was immediately fascinated but I had brought my coloring book and pencils and was working on those while watching TV at night. But something about the needlepoint kept drawing me in. Soon enough, I asked if we could visit her needlepoint store and I was hooked! My birthday is the day before Halloween so I was immediately drawn to a witch’s hat piece. We picked out all the threads (which is super fun to do) and got it all set up on a stretcher. We went back to her place and I immediately wanted to learn every crazy stitch I could. She pulled me back and we discussed where I could play and where I should stay simple.

Now I have a selection of things to keep my mind off all the pain. Sewing, coloring and needlepoint. I never get bored. And at night (when the pain is the worst) I put the TV on and either color or needlepoint in my recliner and it takes my mind off all the pain. It doesn’t take it away but it does help me cope.

Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pens and Prismacolor Colored Pencils

And now for a little science behind it all. So there is this stress hormone in our bodies called cortisol and a recent study at Drexel University (woot woot for a Philly university) showed that cortisol levels dropped in about 75% of people after they did some coloring or art therapy for 45 minutes! You can read more about that here. According to another article, coloring helps you to focus, like meditation this not only relieves stress, but puts the mind and body in a better place. You can read more of that here.

So what I’m trying to get at is, if you suffer from chronic pain, find something that keeps your brain just busy enough to keep it off of the pain. This usually involves some work, without being taxing. Picking your next color and then picking the places in the book you want to work on. Needlepoint, cross stitch, knitting or crocheting are all great as well, because they are repetitive movements and help keep your mind active. I know it can be hard, but once you find your thing it gets easier and easier to pick up that pencil or needle and do something. TV is never enough of a distraction, there have been many times, even with shows I love that all of a sudden I realize I missed half the show because I couldn’t think of anything but the pain. My favorite combo: TV and needlepoint right now, but that’s only because I’m working on getting a Christmas present done!

Don’t forget to get your FREE email me at heidi@hkellydesigns.com!

Heidi is founder and creator of HKelly designs, which can be found at www.hkellydesigns.com

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Check out Heidi’s other Huffington Post publications here.