Pain part 2: Pain management

I saw a Facebook post a few weeks ago, a picture of a woman in some kind of yoga position and the text announced ”Your attitude is your best pain management tool”.

My first reaction was that someone obviously knew nothing about pain. But the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me. As simple as it sounds, it holds a lot of truth... 

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Topics: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Pain management

Pain part 1: When the pain doesn't leave

”Pain is just weakness leaving your body”. Ever heard that statement? It’s a compelling slogan that the US Marine Corps use in their recruitment ads. It may be an effective recruiting tool, but is it true?   

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Topics: Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Pain management

Love, intimacy and regaining confidence post illness or injury

When you have a life changing experience such as an accident, or you get a diagnosis, a lot of things can change in your life. It is during times like these that we realize that no man is an island. We surely need people in our life. Through my work with CercaDeTi Rehab, my colleague and I have identified three key areas to work on to avoid isolation, which I shall share with you in this post.

 

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Topics: Relationships and family life

6 tips and tricks to succeed with Transanal Irrigation (TAI)

”As easy as one, two, three...” Everywhere we hear or see commercials about technical things. We hear that it's so easy, almost intuitive. What many of us have learned – sometimes the hard way is that if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true... Some things need to take time and practise.

 

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Topics: Transanal irrigation (TAI), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Emergency at 30,000 feet

It’s an early December day and I have just boarded an aircraft between Stockholm and Frankfurt. It’s a two hour flight. Short and smooth. No risk of needing to use the toilet during the flight.

It turns out the flight is delayed since we do not leave the gate at the planned time. 15 minutes later the captain announces that due to snowstorms in Europe we have been scheduled for a slot much later. At the moment we may not be able to leave Stockholm for another 3.5 hours.

That’s when I realize I have forgotten to bring my urinary bag onboard. I feel the panic growing inside of me as I know that during these short flights there is no aisle chair that can transport me to the toilet...

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Topics: Clean Intermittent Catheterization (CIC), Travelling with catheters