The Blog menu on the right only shows the most recent 20 entries. There are a closer to 100 under the “Older Entries” link after each set of 20.
Epidural Steroid Injections, The Truth Finally Part 1
~~DISCUSSION~~
Epidural Steroid Injections The Truth Finally Part 2
~~DISCUSSION~~
Corticosteroid not FDA approved for Epidural Injection.
Summary of label changes to drugs July 2014. All CORTICOSTEROID products that are currently approved for intrajoint, dermal, and intralesion injection are clearly labeled as NOT FDA APPROVED FOR EPIDURAL INJECTION. This includes depomedrol, triamcinolone, Kenalog, betamethasone and MORE. Any use of this product for such purposes is OFF LABEL. By this definition, all compounded corticosteroid products ARE NOT APPROVED FOR EPIDURAL INJECTION. Compounded corticosteroids used for this purpose are considered to to be EXPERIMENTAL, as they have not been either FDA approved or clinically trialed and lack safety data. Experimental applications are not off label, and they require specific safety protocols under 21 CFR… – http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/ucm409189.htm
These shots can cause the painful condition Arachnoiditis.
~~DISCUSSION~~
Failed Epidural Blood Patch Now What?
~~DISCUSSION~~
Jumping from a bridge
Hubby has been speaking out about the dangers from this medication since I killed myself, while taking it.
One lady told him that she was standing on a bridge railing ready to jump when she remembered his warning and got help getting of the stuff.
A few people have told him that this medication helped them. A FAR higher number told him about the devastating side effects they experienced from it.
Chronic Pain Suicidal Behavior from Prescription Drugs
Suicidal Behavior and Ideation and Antiepileptic Drugs
Karen was taking this crap, Gabapentin (Neurontin) that is on this list. These are commonly given to people with Chronic Pain, whom are already usually depressed.
Manufacturers of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) or anticonvulsant drugs will update product labeling to include a warning about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or actions and will develop a Medication Guide to help patients understand this risk.
This is the actual study frequently referenced to on Internet with no link to the original study as “Neurontin and Lyrica are a Death Sentence for New Brain Synapses”: Study pinpoints key mechanism in brain development, raising questions about use of antiseizure drug
Gabapentin Receptor α2δ-1 Is a Neuronal Thrombospondin Receptor Responsible for Excitatory CNS Synaptogenesis
Çagla Eroglu, Nicola J. Allen, Michael W. Susman, Nancy A. O'Rourke, Chan Young Park, Engin Özkan, Chandrani Chakraborty, Sara B. Mulinyawe, Douglas S. Annis, Andrew D. Huberman, Eric M. Green, Jack Lawler, Ricardo Dolmetsch, K. Christopher Garcia, Stephen J. Smith, Z. David Luo, Arnon Rosenthal, Deane F. Mosher, Ben A. Barres
Synapses are asymmetric cellular adhesions that are critical for nervous system development and function, but the mechanisms that induce their formation are not well understood. We have previously identified thrombospondin as an astrocyte-secreted protein that promotes central nervous system (CNS) synaptogenesis. Here, we identify the neuronal thrombospondin receptor involved in CNS synapse formation as α2δ-1, the receptor for the anti-epileptic and analgesic drug gabapentin. We show that the VWF-A domain of α2δ-1 interacts with the epidermal growth factor-like repeats common to all thrombospondins. – In Cell Oct 16 2009.
Interference with neuronal development
This class of medication interferes with neuronal development at any age. Study from 2016 on prenatal development.
Pregnancy outcome following maternal exposure to pregabalin may call for concern
ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate pregnancy outcomes following maternal use of pregabalin.
Methods: This multicenter, observational prospective cohort study compared pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to pregabalin with those of matched controls (not exposed to any medications known to be teratogenic or to any antiepileptic drugs). Teratology Information Services systematically collected data between 2004 and 2013.
Results: Data were collected from 164 exposed pregnancies and 656 controls. A significantly higher major birth defect rate in the pregabalin group was observed after exclusion of chromosomal aberration syndromes, and when cases with exposure during first trimester of pregnancy were analyzed separately (7/116 [6.0%] vs 12/580 [2.1%]; odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.2–7.9, p = 0.03). The rate of live births was lower in the pregabalin group (71.9% vs 85.2%, p < 0.001), primarily due to a higher rate of both elective (9.8% vs 5.0%, p = 0.02) and medically indicated (5.5% vs 1.8%, p = 0.008) pregnancy terminations. In the Cox proportional cause specific hazards model, pregabalin exposure was not associated with a significantly higher risk of spontaneous abortion.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated a signal for increased risk of major birth defects after first trimester exposure to pregabalin. However, several limitations such as the small sample size, differences across groups in maternal conditions, and concomitant medication exposure exclude definitive conclusions, so these results call for confirmation through independent studies.
Gralise
Gralise is the new version on Gabapentin. Claimed to have far fewer side effects. I'll still never be a fan of the stuff.
While there may be doctors and links to medical information on this site, a lot of the information here has come from a persons own hard won self education due to lack of support of the Medical Establishment. Independently validate for yourself any information from this site with authoritative sources, as you should do with any information found on Internet.
Added image of a leak
I add someones, was not Karen's, image of a CSF Leak.
~~DISCUSSION~~
Karen's Picture
It will be one year that Karen has been gone from this world on this Thursday August 7th.
I still cry almost every day.
I'm crying now.
I wanted to put a picture of her at the top of her Facebook Page for people to remember her by. I fell she is already being forgotten. Oh so sad. 
The blue wolf represents the true Karen, the one that only I had the privileged of knowing.
The world judges to harshly and to quickly on appearance and other such minutia, without taking the time to get to know someones soul. The soul that evolves, no longer the soul of the ugly duckling little sister, no longer the loaner teenager with few true friends, the soul that filled this now empty house, I could sense when she was not in the house, a house now forever empty of that beautiful life. The soul of the self educated intelligent woman that wanted to help so many, gone to soon. I will love you until we meet again at Rainbow Bridge…
I love you Karen!
~~DISCUSSION~~
George Clooney has a CSF Leak
Far to many people think what I had is rare. No it is not. The problem is that it is rarely diagnosed correctly. For example the famous actor George Clooney has a CSF Leak. He considered suicde when the leak first started from the excruciating headache, some have described as the “headache from Hell”. As of Sept. 1st 2014, years after Mr. Clooeny's injury he continues to have headaches, that the press mistakenly referres to as 'Migraines'. We really do need to find a better solution than the ones we have right now.
George Clooney Visits Hospital as Back Injury Continues to Act Up Years After Filming 'Syriana'.
My Conversation with George Clooney Tracy Moss Stolarski. May 7, 2012 at 6:19pm
It was one of the most thrilling things I've ever done.
When Ann and I got to the Wortham Center in Houston, we took our seats only to find we were on the 8th ROW…so close and so happy! I had brought all my returned letters, cards, literature, etc with me in hopes of finding a way to get it to George. I could have tossed it up on the stage from my seat!!
We had programs, but I didn't look at mine…I was too busy taking pictures and trying to get a good angle for when George came on stage. But then Ann showed me something that made my heart race…AUDIENCE QUESTIONS. Oh my gosh…I would have a chance to ask a question??? I could not think of anything else…except…you have one question…what's it going to be???
George was “interviewed” by a lady who may have never seen and certainly has never done an interview before. She was not the best but I am sure she gave quite a lot of money to the Foundation for that honor! Good for her. George, on the other hand, was beyond charming. Ann, my best friend, said she wasn't a huge fan before the talk, but now she's in LOVE with George. He has an every man way about him that is disarming, candid, intelligent, funny and honest. You cannot help but love him.
Lo and behold, 5 minutes before the end of the interview, a sound guy put a microphone in the aisle one row behind me! I was excited to know I might have a chance at being first in line to ask a question. As soon as he stopped talking, I jumped from my chair and into the aisle…but much to my dismay, there were already lots of others coming down the aisle to the microphone. I managed to get third in line and thought, surely, he'll take at least 3 questions?!?
But something seemed off. The people in the line were pointing at me and whispering about me. Then a young man finally came up to me and said, ma'am, what are you doing? I very confidently said “I am asking George a question.” I kind of implied…end of discussion, if you get my drift. But it wasn't. Another man asked the 17 year old boy in front of me, “is that your mother?” He said no he didn't know me. The entire time, a Sudanese refugee was asking George a question right in front of us. It was rather surreal. Finally, The Blonde Woman came up to me and told me I could not ask a question and I needed to take my seat. I told her my seat was in front of the microphone and I did not want to go in front of the Sudanese woman while she was speaking so I stood my ground. She was flustered. The other young man came back and explained that they were only allowing the three pre-selected, pre-screened people to ask questions and I HAD TO SIT DOWN. I was devastated. I explained that I had flown from Atlanta to have the chance to speak to George and I wanted to ask him about his brain and spine injury. He didn't budge so I gave him the envelope I had brought with all of my George literature and BEGGED him to PROMISE me he would PERSONALLY hand it to George. He did. So I handed it over and was forced to take a seat. I did not go back to my seat but sat on the empty row where the Questioners had been seated. I had a direct line of vision to George. I also had on my bright red dress, which you could not miss. I stood out like a sore thumb.
I kid you not, the third person pre-selected to ask a question actually asked him if he could choose 3 words to describe himself, what would they be. REALLY???? I could have told her…SEXIEST MAN ALIVE…now move over and let me ask him a serious question!!! After she moved from the microphone, George looked toward me and said “come on up.” So I jumped up and was at the microphone in 2 seconds. The next thing I know, my face was splattered across the JUMBOTRON and I looked up and saw myself and sort of had a freak out moment.
Unbeknownst to me, there was another lady right behind me who had raised her hand to ask him a question. I still don't know if he was talking to me or her but I do know, I saw my chance and I took it. They did not allow anyone else to ask a question and made that poor lady sit down. As we were leaving the theatre, I walked past her and heard her telling her friends “I was robbed! George told me to come on up but then that lady in the red dress jumped in front of me!” It's true, I did. I was on a mission.
So what did I ask him? I don't really remember word for word, but it went sort of like this…
Hi, I am Tracy from Atlanta. As I have been sitting here listening to you talk, I have discovered that you and I have a lot in common. First, you're about to celebrate your 51st birthday and I just turned 51. Second, I also had Bell's Palsy. And third, I, like you, am a CSF Leaker. I represent a group of Leakers on Facebook (at this point he laughed out loud as did the crowd…and I said, not THAT kind of leaker…we don't need Depends!) Once the laughter died down, I continued. We call ourselves leakers because we all suffer from the same condition you have. My question to you is, what have you had done, how are you now, and how can you go about your business so cheerfully if you are still in great pain? Leakers know how debilitating this condition is and we are all very impressed with your fortitude, knowing you are also a leaker.
His first response was to tell me how sorry he is that I suffer from leaking. He then proceeded to give the audience a lesson in leaking. He talked about the dura, the spine, how you can tear it, how you can leak, how horrible the pain is, etc. He said he has gone through a 13 hour surgery (I was not able to ask him exactly what kind of surgery) and has had multiple blood patches and glue patches. He says he is much better but sometimes still has headaches. He said he has had to adjust to this new reality of life with chronic pain. He said it is not as severe as it was but occasionally he has to go in for more patches. He expressed sympathy for anyone suffering with it. He ended as he started, telling me he was sorry for my pain and suffering. I was able to tell him that I am healed…and the audience clapped.
Then, The Blonde Woman told me to “shut up and sit down now.” I am not kidding, those were her exact words and I was happy to oblige. George was off the stage in about a minute and that was it. I could not believe that, out of 2500 people in attendance, I was the only one who was able to actually ask him a real, unrehearsed question. He listened intently and answered thoughtfully.
I chased down the young man who I gave my envelope to after the program and asked him again to PROMISE me he would give it directly to George and he said he would. I told him I was sorry to cause a scene, that it was not my intention, but I hoped I had brought some awareness to an important issue. He said George definitely invited you up. (I don't think this guy saw the woman raise her hand behind me either!) I felt empathy from this young man so I can only hope my literature made it into George's hands.
George Clooney interview in the Huffington Post:
~~DISCUSSION~~
Do it yourself (DIY) spinal repair with Spinal Tape
Do it yourself (DIY) spinal repair with Spinal Tape. 
Sometimes you just have to laugh…
~~DISCUSSION~~
Material so black that we can't see it
99.96% Black Paint material so black that we can't see it.
“That,” he said, “that… is really bad for the eyes.”
It was a ship of classic, simple design, like a flattened salmon, twenty yards long, very clean, very sleek. There was just one remarkable thing about it.
“It's so… black!” said Ford Prefect. “You can hardly make out its shape… light just seems to fall into it!”
The blackness of it was so extreme that it was almost impossible to tell how close you were standing to it.
“Your eyes just slide off it…” said Ford in wonder.“ - Douglas Adams, “Restaurant at the End of the Universe” book two of five of the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” trilogy.
BTW, Bob's Big Bang Burger Bar is at the other end of the Universe. See you at Millways!…
~~DISCUSSION~~
Added 2006 introduction to Trigger Points
Hubby originally wrote this in 2006, for FidoNet which was the precursor to the Internet we know today. Hubby ran a Bulletin Board System (BBS) for Matric where he worked at the time, which was a FidoNet node.
These messages where originally to Darlen Strand, about my wife, in the FidoNet Chronic_Pain Echo.
DS> My neck stays tense constantly. I am forever with a headache.
DS> It got better at times but as soon as I do work like cut the
DS> lawn or trim a tree or anything a little strenuous, it starts all
DS> over again.
When I meet Karen she walked around like she had a board strapped to her back and she would never turn her head, she turned her whole body.
This is one of the other things that we have found that did relieve some of Karen's pain, at least a little.
Some thing called Myotherapy or the treatment of “Trigger Points”:
Here is a quick introduction from The Trigger Point Manual, this is !!THE BOOK!! that Myotherapy is based on:
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual by Janet G. Travell, M.D. and David G. Simons, M.D., Illustrations by Barbara D. Cummings. Published by Williams & Wilkins 428 E. Perston Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, U.S.A. ISBN 0-683-083366-X.
Volume One covers The Upper Extremities (Waist and above), Volume Two covers The Lower Extremities (Waist and below). You must have the introductory information from Volume One to use Volume Two.
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual; Vol. 1. The Upper Half of Body by Janet G. Travell, M.D. and David G. Simons, M.D., Illustrations by Barbara D. Cummings.
Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual; Vol. 2. The Lower Extremities by Janet G. Travell, M.D. and David G. Simons, M.D., Illustrations by Barbara D. Cummings.
Travell & Simons' Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: The Trigger Point Manual (2-Volume Set) by David G. Simons.
Office hours: day and night;: The autobiography of Janet Travell, M.D by Dr. Janet G Travell.
Travell and Simons' Trigger Point Flip Charts
Trigger Points of Pain: Wall Charts (Set of 2)
Pain Erasure by Boinnie Prudden.
Myotherapy: Bonnie Prudden's Complete Guide to Pain-Free Living by Boinnie Prudden.
Pain Erasure - The Bonnie Prudden Way - Discover The Wonders Of 'trigger Pont' Therapy by Boinnie Prudden.
From the Foreword of Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction: “At last a text is presented about the pain and dysfunction of myofascial tissues (Muscles), a condition that confronts the medical practitioner daily, but remains poorly understood and frequently overlooked by the medical profession. Yet, patients continue to present themselves with symptoms that are attributable to myofascial trigger-point pathophsiology. These patients often fail to receive proper evaluation and, therefore, appropriate treatment.
”'Trigger points' have been inadvertently discovered by patients, their spouses, therapists, non-medical practitioners; yet, many of their physicians who have examined them, have attributed their condition to various etiologies, and treated them with ineffectual methods. Failure to achieve success has resulted in the assumption [By the Doctors] that patients in their noncompliance are the cause of failure, rather than therapeutic misguidance [Doctor being wrong {Doctors are never, ever wrong, even if they are}].
“For decades, Janet Travell has labored to document the scientific basis of myofascial pain and dysfunction. Her clinical reports have been ridiculed and ignored by some, but believed and confirmed by many.”
The Myotherapits that we have meet have made believers out of us. Remember I said Karen would not turn her head because of her tight muscles? Karen was setting on the therapy table with the therapies behind her. After the therapits treated her the first time, for about a hour, the therapits asked her a question. She turned her head to look behind her to answer him. She didn't even realize that she did it. I almost cried. After the first treatment she said she had noticeably less pain. Gone by no means, but that was the first thing that even made a dent in her neck tenseness.
From the Glossary: “Active Myofascial Trigger Point: A focus of hyperirritability in a muscle or its fascia [the bag like stuff that covers muscles] that is symptomatic with respect to pain; it refers a pattern of pain at rest and/or on motion that is specific for the muscle. An active trigger point is always tender, prevents full lengthening of the muscle, weakens the muscle, usually refers pain on direct compression, dediates a local twitch response of muscle fibers when adequately stimulated, and often produces specific referred autonomic phenomena, generally in its pain reference zone. [For example a trigger point below your ear will give you a headache behind your eyes.] TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM A LATENT MYOFASCIAL TRIGGER POINT.
“Latent Myofascial Trigger Point: A focus of hyperirritability in muscle or its fascia that is clinically quiescent with respect to spontaneous point; it is painful only when palpated. A LATENT TRIGGER POINT MAY HAVE ALL THE OTHER CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACTIVE TRIGGER POINT, FROM WHICH IT IS TO BE DISTINGUISHED.
“Referred (Trigger-Point) Pain: Pain that arises in a trigger point, but is felt at a distance, often entirely remote from its source. The pattern of referred pain is reproducibly related to its site of origin [You press on the Trigger-Point and it makes your pain feel worse, usually some placed remove from where you are pressing]. THE DISTRIBUTION OF REFERRED TRIGGER-POINT PAIN RARELY COINCIDES WITH THE ENTIRE DISTRIBUTION OF A PERIPHERAL NERVE OR DERMATOMAL SEGMENT.
“Referred (Trigger-Point) Phenomena: Sensory and motor phenomena, such as, pain, tenderness, increased motor until activity (spasm), vasoconstriction [Preventing proper blood flow; for example a trigger-point on the back of the neck can cut down blood flow to the eyes], vasodilation [To much blood flow], and hypersercretion caused by a trigger point, which usually occur at a distance from the trigger point.”
We got our copy of this book from B.Daltons Book store, each volume cost about $80. [I hope you didn't fall over, please stick with me for a bit.] Check your area libraries.
Ok so much for a basic introduction why are we telling you this?
DS> No pain at the time. Really, I can say I didn't feel any pain at all. I
DS> don't know if I mentioned to you about one morning waking up to my being
DS> stuck sideways in between my water bed mattress and the bed wood frame.
DS> I'm separated now, but at the time I do believe it was because being
DS> that my husband is a very big man and when he lays on the water bed my
DS> side goes up and I tend to roll. This time I guess being asleep I
DS> rolled the other way and fell in between the mattress and the frame. Well,
DS> when I woke up I was in the position of like doing a side stroke of
DS> swimming with my arm straight up over my head and my neck totally stiff
DS> and terribly sore. Well after that my neck has never been ok. It got
DS> better at times but as soon as I do work like cut the lawn or trim a
DS> tree or anything a little strenuous, it starts all over again.
Keep in mind I'm not a doctor and I can only speculate what has helped Karen might help you. This is my speculation:
Your accident gave you a Latent Trigger Point [everyone as a at least a few, but the may never become active, where they cause pain]. Then your sleeping wrong gave you a Active Trigger Point. When you get a bit better at time you end up doing some thing that irritates your Trigger Points again so you have a relapse.
What the book teaches is three techniques to get rid of trigger points, it also covers a exercise for each muscle to get each muscle in the body stretched out to its maximum length, with out over extending it. You do these exercises very slowly and gently. Over doing, by stretching to far, could damage your ligaments. You need to do them often and the should never make you feel any worse than when you started. They should make you feel just a bit better, maybe not much when looked at on a day by day basis, but looked at over a longer period of time they do help.
When the muscles are relaxed at their optimal length they tend to not to go into the very painful spasm. ie. Your tight neck muscles. You need to keep doing the exercises to keep the muscle lengthened out, to keep the spasms from coming back.
I wish I could figure out how to describe these exercises, as they are mostly pictures in the book.
The three techniques are:
1) Injection of a anesthetic by a doctor into the Trigger Point site, doing it wrong will just give you more Trigger Points. We can forget about this one in this context.
2) Number two is known as Stretch And Spray. As a Therapist stretches your muscles as they spray them with a very fast evaporating cooling agent [Fluori-Methane I think but I'm not sure.] that causes the muscle to lengthen.
3) Direct Trigger Point pressure. This is some thing you can learn to do your self with a bit of practice. [Karen did learn this and used a Thera Cane] All thou for some Trigger Points that are on your back it is easier to have help from some one else to press on them. When you, or some one finds a Trigger Point, you'll know it. It will make your pain much worse, and muscles tighter, and keep in mind that the Trigger Point may be far removed from where your pain is, thou it will always be within the same muscle as the pain. However you can get a overlapping effect because many muscles do overlap [A Trigger point might be on the muscle under the one that you are actually pressing on. A trained therapist knows how to deal with this, the book is a bit hard for me to follow in this area].
If you had the book you can look at the pictures and charts that say if it hurts here, press there. Don't start by pressing where it hurts, that is almost never the Trigger Point, thou there are exceptions. Without the book you just have to explore. The pressure that you apply should be a firm continuous pressure, no poking, no jabbing, no rubbing in circles, and never press so hard that it causes bruising. Since it makes the pain worse you have a tendency to try to wiggle away from the pressure, because of this it is more effect to have some one else press them; how ever you can learn to do it yourself.
Ok, now why would you want to press on a Trigger Point if it is going to make the pain worse?
With brief pressure the pain gets worse, but with sustained [Seconds to minuets, it just depends] pressure the muscle will relax. One of the theories (there are several) of what happens here is that the pressure on the Trigger Point causes some thing call 'no-knox-ia' (Not sure of the spelling that is how the word sounds to me), ie. The amount of oxygen going to the muscle is cut down, the muscle can't work with out oxygen so it relaxes. Some times they stay relaxed, some times they don't, it depends on what caused the Trigger Point in the first place, and what might keep them irritated. If you can keep the muscle relaxed, and the Trigger Point unirritated, the trigger point goes away after awhile, or at least not cause pain any more.
That's the best that I can do for a introduction to Trigger Points, I have not done the subject justice, but I hope that it at least points the way…”
Update:
The book ”Pain Erasure: The Bonnie Prudden Way” by Boinnie Prudden is a $12.95 Do It At Home Book on trigger point removal. I got mine at the local book store. ISBN 0-345-33102-8
End Update.
~~DISCUSSION~~
Molecule Could Lead to New Way to Repair Tendons?
If Karen had the patience to wait, would this new discovery been able to repair the damage of the Fluoroquinolones antibiotics that made it so she could not walk, and may have played a role in the failure of the CSF treatments?
It's an all-too familiar scenario for many people. You sprain your ankle or twist your knee. If you're an adult, the initial pain is followed by a long road of recovery, with no promise that the torn ligament or tendon will ever regain its full strength.
That's because tendon and ligament cells in adults produce little collagen, the fibrous protein that is used to build new tendon and ligament tissue. Physical therapy and surgery help, but for many people, there may always be a nagging reminder of the injury.
But what if doctors could coax an injured tendon to regenerate itself back to its original strength? A solution along these lines may come from an unlikely, feathered source. Berkeley Lab scientists have identified a molecule that guides the formation of tendons and ligaments. And they found it in chicken embryos.
The molecule binds to the outer lipid membrane of tendon cells, and allows tendon cells to signal their presence to other cells. The molecule’s job is to orchestrate growth and collagen production. In a chicken embryo, a dense growth plate of tendon cells work together to spin out collagen and weave new tendon, which is basically a collagen rope. The more cells signaling their presence to each other, the more collagen is produced.
The gene that expresses the protein component of this signaling molecule is highly conserved among animals, meaning a similar molecule performs the same tendon-building job in developing humans.
“More research is needed, but our initial experiments suggest this protein-phospholipid molecule could be administered to adults who’ve had tendon injuries, to spark healthy tendon growth in the same way that happens during embryogenesis,” says Richard Schwarz of Berkeley Lab’s Life Sciences Division, a biologist who leads this research.
Schwarz studied chickens because they're stars when it comes to making tendons. Chicken embryos start developing tendons just eleven days before hatching, and they enter the world ready to skitter about for food.
“Their tendon-growth process is very fast,” says Schwarz.
The process isn't nearly as fast in humans, but the idea is the same. When we're growing, the tendon cells in growth plates are densely packed together, the perfect conditions for collagen production. In adults, however, the growth plates recede and the few remaining tendon cells are at low cell density. They produce enough collagen to maintain tendons, but not enough to repair an injured tendon.
“In adults, tendon repairs are more like darning a sock—adequate, but not like new,” says Schwarz.
Schwarz’s idea is to reignite the tendon-building capability that occurs during embryogenesis and throughout childhood.
“If we could add back this growth factor, then we could make tendon cells believe they are at high density again—and cause them to reform this growth plate,” says Schwarz.
Initial experiments on cell cultures have proved promising, but Schwarz says that more research is needed. For example, one big question that needs to tested in vivo is whether adult tendon can be driven to form a new growth plate—and heal the tendon or ligament in a stronger and faster manner—by injecting a tendon cell-density signal.
- See more at: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/07/24/repair-tendons.
~~DISCUSSION~~
A blood test for suicide?
Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a chemical alteration in a single human gene linked to stress reactions that, if confirmed in larger studies, could give doctors a simple blood test to reliably predict a person's risk of attempting suicide.
Identification and Replication of a Combined Epigenetic and Genetic Biomarker Predicting Suicide and Suicidal Behaviors – The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Would this have helped Karen? When would such test be done? What happens when the results are positive? What happens when the results are a false positive? What happens when the results are negative and there is a suicide? Paper is behind a paywall so a trip to the library is required to get those answers, if they are answered in the paper.
~~DISCUSSION~~
If you were the one left behind by a Suicide
A Handbook for Survivors of Suicide by Jeffrey Jackson from the American Association of Suicidology.
This is a book for people who have lost a loved one to suicide, written by someone who has suffered the same loss.
This book is not intended to be a complete guide for the suicide survivor—it only scratches the surface. There’s much more you can learn about coping with your unique grief than what is offered here.
This is also not a book about suicide prevention; there are many other publications that address that challenge.
Other helpful sites for the Survivors of Suicide:
No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving The Suicide Of A Loved One.
Why Suicide?: Answers to 200 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Suicide, Attempted Suicide.
Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One.
After Suicide: A Ray Of Hope For Those Left Behind.
My Son . . . My Son . . .: A Guide to Healing After Death, Loss, or Suicide.
~~DISCUSSION~~
Helping Children Understand CSF Leaks
My Mommy Has A Leaky Brain (Volume)
My Mommy Has A Leaky Brain Version 2 (Volume)
Our friend Pam Tomlinson publishes books to help children understand issues, such as CSF Leaks, OCD, why daddy is in jail etc. Sadly Karen never got to read any of them.
~~DISCUSSION~~
Switched main site to be the wiki
I've been working on this wiki for many months. Wanted to have Karen's main site switched over to the wiki by her one year anniversary that is less than two weeks away.
How can it be a year already?
I made the site be a wiki so that others can participate to share their own stories and information to help others. Also the wiki software lets me do updates quickly compared to what the past website took.
~~DISCUSSION~~
The Pain and Policy Studies Group issues Progress Report Card and Tom Corbett
The Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG) research program at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center within the School of Medicine and Public Health, has issues a new report (based on 2013 data, old report was 2006):
Achieving Balance in State Pain Policy: A Progress Report Card (CY 2013)
This report contains a grade for each state and the District of Columbia, which represents the extent that state policies can support pain management and patient care. PPSG researchers evaluated the content of state laws and regulatory policies to determine the presence of language that could enhance or impede pain management.
Sadly this report was issued before PA governor Tom Corbett issued his attack on pain doctors:
Pennsylvania Releases Guidelines for Physicians on Use of Prescription Opioids
This is their recommendation:
The guidelines recommend that chronic pain is best treated using an interdisciplinary, multi-model approach. This may include physical therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, electronic stimulation therapy, and careful use of medications as needed.
People like Karen long ago went thought all of the physical therapy, mental therapies et.al. and found them to be ineffective at treating Chronic Pain.
They cite the “current heroin epidemic” for the reason to crack down on pain medication. This is typical Government Orwellian Doublespeak. The 'heroin epidemic' was created because it was cheaper than the medication that doctors are so fearful of prescribing that they won't prescribe it any longer to those that need it.
Yes, drug abuse is a problem. Lets not solve that problem at the expense of those that truly need pain medication.
The Pennsylvania Opioid Prescription Guidelines
~~DISCUSSION~~
Use the Charge Master find hospital costs
Use the Charge Master find hospital costs
When Karen and I were in California for her Dural Reduction Surgery I discovered that California had something called the "AB 1045 and the Payers′ Bill of Rights" and Charge Master, or Chargemaster as it appears both ways, program that lists hospital costs.
For example searching for “cedar sinai” brings up a downloadable spreadsheet of their procedure costs. The highest thing listed is:
“02781367 HB TOTAL ARTIFICIAL HEART $510,125.75”
“03400011 HB NM CSF LEAK SCAN 78650 $1,476.66 $1,919.65 ”
That easy to get a price, at least if you know what it is called. I could not figure out the what Dural Reduction Surgery was called in the CM.
Now why don't all states have this so we can shop for medical procedures just as we would do for anything else we buy in our lives?
In a different tho related matter I got a bill in March of 2014 for thousands of dollars from the hospital in LA, seven months after Karen died.
Karen once got a bill seven years after the date of service.
I keep thinking I should contact my representatives in Congress to get them to enact a law that says if the hospital and doctors can't get the bill sent out in 120 days, then the bill can not be sent. What excuse if there to take seven months to send a bill?
~~DISCUSSION~~