BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

As a sufferer of chronic pain myself, I know that getting adequate pain relief is a huge problem. Abusers like Pumpkin-head Limbaugh have made it hard on all of us. I am going to my second pain clinic in 11 years and I have just about given up hope. In the last 5 years my pain issues have gotten so bad I can barely function some days. Chronic pain colors my thinking and causes profound depression and hopelessness in people like me. I refuse to take anything too strong or sedating. I am single mother and refuse to be drugged up around my children. I already take an SSRI for my PTSD and valium only when my PTSD is triggered. I take my Vicodin or Robaxin only on weekends when I can and must sleep.  4 years ago, after a traumatic incident, I was hospitalized twice with a tube down my throat to stop vomitting and esophageal spasms. The choice was - do we give her something for the PTSD or the spasms? Thank goodness that stopped though it was a long, hard road. Pain often ...

When you are told you have cancer, the diagnosis affects not only you, but also your family and friends. You may feel scared, uncertain, or angry about the unwanted changes cancer will bring to your life and theirs. You may feel numb or confused. You may have trouble listening to, understanding, or remembering what people tell you during this time. This is especially true when your doctor first tells you that you have cancer. It is not uncommon for people to shut down mentally once they hear the word "cancer." There is nothing fair about cancer and no one "deserves" to have it. A cancer diagnosis is hard to take and having cancer is not easy. When you find out you have cancer, your personal beliefs and experiences help you figure out what the diagnosis means to you and how you will handle it. As you face your own mortality and cope with the many demands of cancer, you may look more closely at your religious beliefs, your personal and family values, and what's mo...

I GUESS THAT'S WHY THEY CALL IT THE BLUES What is the most powerful means to understand the importance of something? Personal experience. My battle with post-partum depression started about 5 days after my cesaerean. I had gone first into shock in the operating room and was fully awake, hearing my newborns cry while my body convulsed uncontrollably. My ex-husband and obstetrician laid over my torso; the latter kept talking to me so I would stay concious. My recovery was slow. My disability returned with a vengenance and I bled out for many months after the delivery. It didn't help that my ex-husband returned almost 2 months later to a full schedule. Work I would understand. However, all his other activities resumed without so much as a blip. I would get calls during the day from his buddies from these outside activities saying "why is he back? isn't he helping you? do you have help?" The answers were 'I don't know' and 'NO.' Coupled wit...