A Discussion about Lyme and Emerging Tick Related Illnesses via Twitter

The Amazing Benefits of Networking on Twitter

About a year ago I discovered Twitter. Initially, I was following the Stars on the VOICE & attempting to keep up with politics. However, in order to maintain my sanity, I have since abandoned politics.  Almost by accident I discovered a huge number of my favorite medical writers and contributors to Magazines, Journals and News Papers were all on twitter. It didn't take long for me to build a network of other interesting and intelligent individuals from all over the World who I enjoy following.

Below is a perfect example of the amazing benefits of networking on twitter.  Last year I met Dr. Judy Stone, an infectious disease doctor and accomplished writer who has helped educate me on infectious diseases, and connect me into the twitter-sphere.

Thoughts on Living With a Disability

Other than the few weeks following my C-section, I've never been disabled. My perspective on disability comes from my best friend becoming a paraplegic when we were in High School, living with a child with a chronic illness, providing physical therapy to many patients with varied diagnoses, and one special lady that changed my perspective on life many years ago. 

Over the years, I've treated 1000's of patients, and one thing seems to stand out in those who do better-It's a sense of optimism. One of the biggest frustrations with Chronic Fatigue, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Fibromyalgia is not knowing the cause. I do believe we are on the verge of discovering biomarkers for these illnesses, but currently there is no definitive blood test or imaging technique to tell us the cause of your illness. Many CFS/ME patients go years without help but it's important never to give up hope. This feeling, that things will get better, seems to be the driving force in so many of my patients. 

10 Tips for Managing Chronic Pain at Home

10 Tips for Managing Chronic Pain at Home: 

(Advice from a Physical Therapist and Mother of Child with Lyme, ME/CFS & POTS)

Defining Pain
Most Chronic pain suffers hate rating their pain, but health care providers need to know. Sometimes we refer to the "Pain Assessment" as the 5th Vital Sign (after Temperature, Pulse, Respiratory rate, and Blood pressure). When we're treating you for pain, your rating is the only way we can gage whether a patient is making progress or not. It's more difficult when trying to quantify how much pain a child is in. I find the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) works better than telling someone to "rate your pain on a scale of 0-10."