Rev. Cory Thrall

For some time I have had chronic pain between my shoulder blades and in my neck. I went through all of the “usual suspects”- pillows, being aware of how much I was using my phone, my posture- nothing was working. I went through six pillows thinking that would help, but the pain persisted. The only relief I found was massage therapy which gave only temporary relief. Until Jeanne came to visit me in my office.

Jeanne wanted to talk about a community project Legacy does called Shoes of Hope but when she saw me sitting in my office chair she said, “Oh, my!” In answer to the puzzled look on my face Jeanne asked, “Do you have much back or neck pain?” “Do I ever!”, I said, and began to tell Jeanne my struggles with chronic pain.

It turns out that Jeanne is an ergonomist and with a keen eye and a measuring tape, Jeanne came up with a plan. My chair was all wrong for me, my desk was made for someone seven feet tall, the lighting was way too bright and my computer monitor was angled wrong. Along with all of the bad news Jeanne had some good news: North Dakota Workforce Safety (WSI) offers a grant that pays 75% of improvements made to an office as long as an ergonomist (thank God for Jeanne!) did an assessment and made recommendations. As of this writing, WSI has approved Jeanne’s recommendations and everything is on order. I can already feel my neck muscles relaxing.

I am thankful for Jeanne. Her great love for God translates into helping people be safe and healthy at work. Jeanne sees this as a ministry and that God shares love through her work as an ergonomist. As her pastor I feel loved and appreciated because of Jeanne’s passion to help people like me be pain free.

Additional Resources: 

Mayo Clinic on Office Ergonomics

NIOSH Computer Workstation eTool

Ergonomic Desk Setup Checklist