Knee Surgery, Day 7
Yesterday, after taking off the tensor bandage, my knee was a cheerful gnome of pain, likely released, I suspect, by the flesh expanding rather suddenly after all that compression. Sort…
pain
Three Little Words That Caregivers Long to Hear
My friend Julie Drury is the bereaved Mom of her beautiful daughter Kate who passed away after a long journey of illness and pain resulting from mitochondrial disease and the…
Mindful People Experience Less Pain Than Others
Mindfulness is all the rage right now and for good reason, the benefits of being able to be aware of yourself and your impact on others are great. Mindfulness has…
Caring for Non-Speaking Loved Ones in Pain
What does pain look like in a person who cannot speak? Most often with our son Nicholas, it looks like this: When his smile suddenly turns to a ‘stricken’ look,…
Yoga Might be Better Than Medication for Back Pain
Yoga can be an effective treatment for back pain according to new research. Before you sign up to any random yoga class for your back be sure to check what…
For the countless Canadians humiliated by anti-gay policies, healing can finally begin
Svend Robinson was Canada’s first openly gay MP. He is now based in Geneva with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Originally published in the Globe &…
Caring for a Patient in Pain Who Can’t Speak
What does pain look like in a person who cannot speak? Most often with Nicholas, it looks like this: When his smile suddenly turns to a ‘stricken’ look, we know…
Am I An Abuser?
All this talk of torture in my last post got me wondering about the most awful times of pain and suffering in our own Nicholas’ life. When Nick was small,…
Those Nortriptyline Blehs
Nortriptyline, according to Wikipedia, is a second-generation tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) marketed as the hydrochloride salt under the trade names Sensoval, Aventyl,Pamelor, Norpress, Allegron, Noritren and Nortrilen. It is used in…
Humor: an evolutionary explanation
Humans have evolved to have a sense of humor — sorry, most humans have evolved to have a sense of humor because it helps us deal with: the vast indifference…