October 31st, 2020 11:50 am

Just Another Freaky Boat Ride

By |2020-10-31T11:56:45+11:00October 31st, 2020|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources|Tags: , , |

In what's becoming a life trek in the aim of defining my ongoing pain issue, there's a pattern I'm beginning to see. Most often when I read educational material and it feels like it's beginning to gell with my experience, I feel a suction begins to the words. I'm drawn into the paragraphs of the researcher/s and excitement kicks in. 'I'm going to find the definition, this person is speaking my language!' It gets wilder and wilder – think Willy Wonka's crazy boat ride (below, but hold on to your pelvis!) and the findings and resources amount to great support material. I begin to believe – 'this is IT!' But Like Willy Wonka's crazy boat ride, somewhere along the way it gets freaky, the definition starts to go off my track and as I keep reading I'm feeling that I'm coming unstuck.

January 3rd, 2020 4:31 pm

Bitter Sweet and Still Confused

By |2022-09-06T11:40:14+10:00January 3rd, 2020|Categories: Blog, The pain|Tags: , , , |

That was my endnote for 2019. As life evolves within my 3km radius, I find myself looking back less and less and looking forward more and more. Bitter, defines the heartache of not being able to see loved ones as often and the missing perks of our previous city life. Sweet, is being defined by new friends, the gallery, our new home and the sea that surrounds us. As for confused, another year has passed and I still don't feel anyone can quite define what's going on with my body. Does it matter heading into a new year?

June 9th, 2018 11:22 am

Frida Kahlo: Portrait of Chronic Pain

By |2018-06-09T11:31:59+10:00June 9th, 2018|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources, Read|Tags: , |

The Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) is one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. Although famous for her colorful self-portraits and associations with celebrities Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky, less known is the fact that she had lifelong chronic pain. Frida Kahlo developed poliomyelitis at age 6 years, was in a horrific trolley car accident in her teens, and would eventually endure numerous failed spinal surgeries and, ultimately, limb amputation. She endured several physical, emotional, and psychological traumas in her lifetime, yet through her art, she was able to transcend a life of pain and disability. Of her work, her self-portraits are conspicuous in their capacity to convey her life experience, much of which was imbued with chronic pain. Signs and symptoms of chronic neuropathic pain and central sensitization of nociceptive pathways are evident when analyzing her paintings and medical history. This article uses a narrative approach to describe how events in the life of this artist contributed to her chronic pain. The purpose of this article is to discuss Frida Kahlo's medical history and her art from a modern pain sciences perspective, and perhaps to increase our understanding of the pain experience from the patient's perspective.

November 1st, 2017 2:48 pm

Trust me, I’m a patient: pain education for professionals from a lay perspective

By |2017-12-11T09:19:31+11:00November 1st, 2017|Categories: Learn, Professional Resources|Tags: , |

Unfortunately, it is all too common for the professional not to listen to the patient and not to believe in their pain. The focus on the ‘relief of suffering’ has almost got lost in modern medicine’s search for diagnosis and cure. It is hard enough to be coping with pain, but terrifying not to be believed when one goes for help. It should not take months of suffering and inadequate (or no) pain relief before a patient finally gets to a pain clinic.

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