Onwards and Upwards (And Lots of Sidewards)
Inspiring change and progress in any industry can be tough, but I think the toughest industry to change is the ‘sick’ system. But that hasn’t stopped me [...]
Inspiring change and progress in any industry can be tough, but I think the toughest industry to change is the ‘sick’ system. But that hasn’t stopped me [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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.
Making the invisible visible You'll hear this wonderful reference in my chat with Giulia – to make what is invisible visible is one of her four goals while in the position of CEO at PainAustralia. I found Giulia incredibly down-to-earth and easy to connect with. Of course, with six children, you instantly know she understands pain (and is highly able!!), but her admission that she had never thought of the pain she experienced as chronic really struck me.
(Image: Soula Mantalvanos, founder My Health Story features in Women in Business, Bellarine Times International Women’s Day special edition 2023) Feature, Women in Business, Bellarine Times International [...]
Can visualising the personal health experience lead to better care and understanding? You all know what I think and believe about this. But now, I'm aiming to inform the rest of [...]
The Primary Care workshop at this year's CODA Conference was my favorite lived experience contribution to date! The workshop approach was more effective than my other 'standup gigs'. Something has clicked with me lately – I've stepped out of chronic illness's emotional and physical sides and more often partaking in health education. I like it! We must believe that twitches, spasms, toilet function-changing effects, noise, screaming, soreness, stabbing, burning, itching, fatiguing, and draining effects of chronic pain can be controlled. If you had told me this between my first and 4.5-year mark, I would have felt angry and said, 'My issue is severe, far more serious than everyone realises, and my healthcare practitioners are all missing the terrible thing in my body, and I am going to die from it.'
I'm an author of What Injured Workers With Complex Claims Look For in Online Communities: Netnographic Analysis, now published in one of the world's best medical journals.
Congratulate me! I have been awarded expert mentoring with Buzz Web Media and Women With Wit’s – Lee Ussher under the Australian Government’s Boosting Female Founders Initiative (BFFI) for PainTrain [...]