Keeping Busy, Living Life, and Staying Pain Free(ish)
The essence is all in the ‘ish’, right? But grant me this: at least I did use the words ‘pain-free’. And the words ‘busy’ and ‘living’. You [...]
November 9th, 2024
2:45 pm
July 28th, 2024
12:34 pm
Busy Advocating and Making Art – My Life Management
Although pain management is the undercurrent of my life, it no longer rules my life activity. This is a tricky mind battle that underlies everything I do. [...]
April 26th, 2024
12:11 pm
RESEARCH CALL: Understanding the Healthcare Needs of People Living with Pelvic Pain
Cate Andrews is a PhD researcher from the University of Tasmania (School of Psychological Sciences) who is currently recruiting for an Australia-wide study titled Understanding the Healthcare Needs of People Living with Pelvic Pain. Cate contacted me and asked if I could help with the callout. She was particularly interested in hearing from people with diagnoses of pudendal neuralgia, vulvodynia, or painful bladder syndrome. Do you have 30 minutes for a chat? This chat can be broken up into shorter calls if more easily manageable.
April 11th, 2024
2:04 pm
Four Corners… More like One.
I’m so disappointed in Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett. I can’t believe this is an ABC story. Firstly, I do want to express my sadness for the [...]
March 20th, 2024
5:59 pm
Aussies Turn To Online Advice To Try And Get Off Their Antidepressant Medication
I really can’t believe this story. Stories like this one leave me feeling healthcare is still so miserably failing people. Our voices are not being heard. I [...]
February 27th, 2024
12:29 pm
The 17th Anniversary Post
In 2013, when I began making progress with pain management, I had the idea to make a marionette of myself. Theo and I had just travelled to Italy (masks and Pinocchios everywhere!), and returning on the plane I watched the film, Marilyn. It dawned on me how seriously invisible many illnesses are. As much as I would have loved to make the marionette myself, at the time, any self-portraits I was drawing or painting were horrifying. They were brutal, disturbing, and sad to the point where I had to ask Theo to wrap them up one day – I couldn't look at them anymore.
February 26th, 2024
5:32 pm
Are you there yet?
Are you ready to punch the next healthcare professional you see who asks, 'Tell me your story'? Are you sick of asking for your health information, searching for it, collating it, or sending bits and pieces of yourself all over the place?
November 7th, 2023
1:14 pm
Consultations with Anne-Florence Plante Now Available
Get ready to listen, learn and return to a better quality of life. I 100% believe that had I met Anne-Florence in the first six months after my accident, I would not have endured chronic pain. And this is why I'm confident Anne-Florence will help you return to your whole, fabulous, painless self - or as closest as possible. What she did for me after meeting me at my worst was nothing short of a life-saving boost. And a realignment. She popped me on the path to recovery, and even more than that, she reached me on a personal level, aiding my return to life with ideas relevant to me. I'm thrilled about telehealth and global communication options because they mean she's always there for me! And now, Anne-Florence is there for you too!
September 7th, 2023
12:50 pm
Is Symptom Tracking Your Road Map to Better Days?
Soula Mantalvanos (me!) as a guest contributor on MoreGoodDays. If you're living with fibromyalgia, you'll know first-hand how the experience forces you into constant symptom tracking. What’s this niggle? Is this [...]
July 24th, 2023
10:33 am
It’s National Pain Week And I’m Celebrating by Writing the End of this Story
Every year I think something amazing will happen during National Pain Week. But every year, nothing amazing ever does. We all wait for answers, but either the answers don't come, or they prove more tiresome. Worst of all, the answers are a direction to a lonely zone – the figure-it-out-yourself zone! So, figure it out myself; I will this year! I'm making National Pain Week AMAZING by writing the end of this story.