Blog
Opioid Impact Series: Introduction
Regulation of opioid formulations has increased and decreased over time for as long as opioid substances have been used by humans. Regulations are driven by many things, including prevalence of use to manage pain in a healthcare setting, connection to...
Maintaining Hope Despite the Statistics
This article originally appeared on the MetaCancer Foundation website "The will to live cannot be measured. Many things happen that science cannot explain. They are mysterious. Science may have defined life in terms that are too small." —Rachel Naomi Remen, MD Is it...
Sharing Your Pain with Family and Friends
by Stephanie Stern, LCSW Communication is so important, but communicating your level of pain is not always an easy thing to do. Pain is invisible and only you know how you’re feeling. Some people are naturally good at expressing their emotions and open to talking...
Pain: The Importance of Open Communication
by Stephanie Stern, LCSW Pain is such an important topic and one that’s not often talked about enough. Pain is very individual and, in many cases, kept quiet. There are lots of reasons why people do not openly talk about their pain with their healthcare team and/or...
The Politics of Pot
This is the third and final series discussion about medical marijuana. I would be remiss if I did not cover the political climate which affects anyone who uses or is considering the use of medical marijuana for the management of pain. Issues should also be kept in...
Sickle Cell Disease – Year in Review
2018 was an impactful year for sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD is a group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen and break down, often causing severe, debilitating pain and blood vessel and organ damage. The first drug in over 20 years was...
New Year – New Chance to Fight the Pain!
I know many of you will disagree with these words, and that's okay. We each have to find our own way through this journey of chronic pain and illness. However, I do want to share a little bit of knowledge that I have learned on this long, 27-year journey of pain. We...
Life with Chronic Pain: The Baseball Bat on the Front Stoop
by Alicia DiGiammarino When I was still in middle school, I began coming up with creative ways to tell my mom I loved her. “I love you like Shakespeare loved to write!”, I would exclaim, partly just to hold her in the door frame a second longer before I was left...
A perspective of healthcare provider in pain
Life takes us all on a journey, it twists and turns and you end up in places you never expected. Pain is not just physical but it is also psychological and impacts everything we see, do, feel and experience. Being a healthcare provider does not protect one from...
Gratitude and Recognition for Caregivers
Wikipedia defines caregiving as “an unpaid or paid person who helps another individual with an impairment with his or her activities of daily living”. There is one type of caregiver that is missing from most caregiving lists. They are the caregivers for people living...