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Ho, Ho, Holidays
Can’t say I’m feeling festive. But my treatment glitch is no excuse to put a damper on everyone else’s holiday season. I love seeing people happy and having a great time. And that’s what I’ll be doing as Queenscliff fills with happy people who have sand between their toes and ice-cream on their tongues (not in the gallery of course!). I’m going to ride their wave. And lap up the sanctuary of my new studio – personal sanctuary is key to management! In my efforts to stay positive I shot this crazy little video in my studio just before [...]
Worksafe Agent Loses Call Recording
As long as WorkSafe and their Agent keep treating me unfairly and refuse to support me in the way that I am entitled, I’m going to keep my reports coming! What have they done now? The Worksafe Agent has responded with two unacceptable reasons for not providing me with a recording between their ‘Medical Advisor’ and my GP. They’ve lost it! and I don’t understand the other reason (do you?!) The Agent recently organised an Independent Medical Examination (IME) with a psychiatrist. In the lead up they insisted I had to attend an appointment [...]
My New Friend, Freddie
I’ve never had much success with inflatables. However, Freddie is a little different – he’s got structure and he’s not so wobbly. If you’ve sat on one of those donut blow ups, you would have noticed it’s quite a balancing act. Although great to keep the pelvis moving, I have found my preference is for a more supportive seat. So I made my own with some really dense rubber. Sadly, I can’t find this rubber anymore and my rubber is flattening which is a concern. By chance I was contacted by Dr Bruce Scott who [...]
Venezia!
There was no rushing to catch transport! And the sounds of Venice are soothing and happy. In the morning we woke to the sounds of the local's footsteps and the sounds of them working along the canal. Local chatter in the street, dogs barking and of course, the church bells. Sounds impact a person with a chronic illness. My mind was at peace, it felt rested, all was calming and gentle.
My GPADD18 Presentation
I'll deem my efforts a success. I managed. I learned a bundle. I made something of the chronic pain experience. And I believe I provided some insight. I arrived at Yarra Valley Lodge on Thursday night and left Sunday early morning to manage the presentation, question time and a short attendance at the dinner on Saturday evening. So that's 3 nights' sleep (and one nap Saturday afternoon) to get the focus I needed, and so I could appear in a way that I felt reflected my most Soula self. The presentation (below) took weeeeeeeeks to put together! Something that would have taken me a few short days previously. That might sound like a sacrifice to many of you, but with this approach, my pain levels remained low (if not off), and on my return to Queenscliff, I could resume my part-time work and the week ahead as per normal. It worked; I'm pacing up! I do have a niggle, though. We're not learning fast enough. We're not listening hard enough. I left disappointed I hadn't achieved enough. My presentation I couldn't film during the conference for obvious reasons, but I have put together the graphic presentation with my voice over. WARNING: This presentation contains calls for a new approach to managing chronic pain. It calls for bundles of learning for both professionals and patients and sacrifice and 100% commitment. It's a little boring and most disheartening for those searching for a quick fix. In this presentation: 0:28 Outline 0:43 About Soula 0:58 The accident 1:44 Chronic pain treatment & investigations 2:19 The peripheral stimulation implant 2:36 Diagnosis 3:00 Quality of life — More treatment 3:27 Communicating Pain 3:50 What is our understanding of Pain? 4:50 Resources for pain — pudendalnerve.com.au — The Hurting Strings Documentary — My book Art & Chronic Pain 7:14 Changing our ways — New definitions and more!
Managing chronic pain: Different approaches to a complex issue
(Article from the RACGP website) Neelima Choahan 26/07/2018 11:36:34 AM Chronic pain affects one in five Australians. newsGP spoke with a patient and a GP about some of the best ways to tackle the situation. Soula Mantalvanos, who has lived with chronic pain for more than a decade, believes GPs need to have quality resources to offer the best help. Soula Mantalvanos was sitting on a fit-ball in her office when it exploded underneath her, sending her crashing to the concrete floor. The accident changed the self-employed graphic designer’s life, filling it with chronic pain. ‘I still remember that impact. It was [...]