It only takes $10 to say thank you for all these free resources
Have I helped you in any way? That is my complete intention because raving on about living with chronic illness isn’t fun. So your smallest act of gratitude would mean the world to me (and to the ongoing management of this website).
Then hit the button!
Donate via the PayPal button.
John Quintner
I've made some great friends in cyber space throughout this PN pain journey (and developed quite a library along the way!). One friend I consider a favorite is John Quintner. He's one of my most reliable sources when I need an honest opinion. We bump into each other over two main mutual 'interests': the (primitive) WorkCover assessment methods, and pain definitions. John doesn't just know what he's talking about, he's upfront, honest and calls it how he sees it. And when someone has these credentials, I'm all ears, not to mention I become much wiser!
$6 Billion woman and the $600 Million Girl
the PELVIC PAIN report “Pelvic pain, while common, is often a hidden burden to the lives of many women. With emerging national and international knowledge about pain and the heavy toll it poses on individuals and society, it is timely that this report ‘The $6 Billion Woman and the $600 Million Girl’ raises pelvic pain to public attention as an important health issue. This call for action is overdue in a much neglected area of health and healthcare impacting the lives of so many women and girls in our community.” Dr Christine Bennett, MBBS FRACP Master Paed. Professor and [...]
Social Media for Pain Education, Pain Australia
Social Media for Pain Education by Linda Baraciolli. Published on Painaustralia enewsletter, August 23, 2013 Social media can change the way GPs and other healthcare professionals understand chronic pain, says pain advocate Soula Mantalvanos, founder of the pelvic pain website Pudendal Nerve. Ms Mantalvanos also runs a Facebook page, mostly for consumers, and is active on Linked In, where a lot of her interactions with healthcare professionals take place. Motivated by personal experience, Ms Mantalvanos says pelvic pain is not well understood within the medical profession, something she hopes to address by sharing her story online “It took four [...]
A Pained Life: Timing My Pain
Excerpt from American News Report: July 8th, 2013 by Carol Levy, Columnist I was sitting at a table with some people I knew, slightly. I did not know how much of my situation they knew, but the issue came up about my not being able to work. I told them about the pain that comes from any consistent use of my eyes for more than 10 to 20 minutes before the pain becomes too severe for me to continue. They immediately came up with suggestions, most of them centered on using a timer. “Set it for 15 minutes so [...]
Pain sucks for injured workers
Surfing the many ‘pain’ forums you eventually get to ‘cyber’ know the regular contributors. One of my favorites to bump into is the highly accredited and regarded, John Quintner. I give full attention too John, he is a great support for me (and to the world of pain). Regular readers of my blog might remember his previously posted paper ‘John Qunitner’s point of view’ and may have also seen some of John’s great comments, in particular where I vent my frustrations with WorkCover. But this post isn’t about me, it certainly interests me as it refers to assessments within [...]
Reply to my ‘Fair Assessment for Compensation letter’
After speaking with Kris Vanston I now know that injured workers do have the Victorian Ombudsman to turn too for unfairness issues within the WorkCover system. I had my doubts about contesting my impairment score of 0% (that was deemed permanent I might add), as I am very well aware and have ranted aplenty about Chronic Pain NOT being acknowledged in the guidelines that are used to assess injured workers. That means there is Australian legislation (I'll rephrase; it is legal) for WorkSafe practitioners to ignore Chronic pain, thus Pudendal Neuralgia. No where within the system will any WorkCover practitioner be able to assess an injured worker's Chronic pain. I'm experiencing the result of this, I've been living this ignorance since March 2007. I wrote a letter that was ignored for a few months by our WorkCover Minister, WorkSafe and SafeWork Australia. The Victorian Ombudsman employee informed me not to use the 'info' email address but rather the 'enquiries' one when I'm writing to WorkSafe. Ridiculous but he was right and I eventually received a response. (Enter sarcasm) I now feel completely healed and completely relieved with the empty response I received. It managed to 'acknowledge', 'agree', 'assure' and confirm all the points relating to this outdated system that I initially made in my letter. I'm also more at ease knowing everyone who assessed me ignored all my symptoms and inabilities and that was legal. I'm also proud of the staff at WorkSafe who are happy to abide by ignorant and narrow-minded measures that would also apply to them in the event they injured themselves at work. Above all, I'm in awe of the WorkSafe staff and all related employees and practitioners who's reports are so loyal and discerning of these out-of-date AMA4 guidelines (with pain chapter removed), and The Accident Compensation Act 1987. This template response clearly indicated to me that anyone with chronic pain and with any of the following symptoms/limitations, as a result of a workplace accident will not get compensation: affected toilet function, spasms where you really don't want them, sensory pain (in my case throughout the pelvis), toothachey nerve pain, weakening legs, burning, zinging, if you have limited sitting ability, if you are limited in walking, standing, working, lifting, bending, exercising, if you have an implant as a result of pain (or even if you need one for that matter), if you rely on daily help, if you can't drive, shop, sit and type this damn email in one hit etc etc...! Well thank you WorkSafe for the 'quality' protection you promise. And Heidi just one question, would this letter have been acceptable for you if you were in my shoes?