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News
Pain Management and Improving Quality of Life in Terminally
Ill Cancer Patients
 One
morning, the mother of a terminally ill cancer patient called my
office. Her son had renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), which had
spread to his liver and lungs. He was recently discharged from the
hospital and was given a very poor prognosis (two to three weeks to
live). Since conventional medical treatment failed to control his
disease, he was advised to seek hospice care. She realized it was a
hopeless situation, but still wanted to know if it was too late to
do anything to help her son. I reassured her that it’s only too late
if you never start. When I entered the home, I observed a young man,
who was very pale and suffering from cachexia, the wasting syndrome
commonly associated with advanced cancers. (In fact, it is estimated
that 40 percent of all cancer patients actually die of
malnutrition.) He was nauseous and kept a bucket nearby because he
was constantly vomiting. His appetite was almost nonexistent. I
noticed his abdomen was swollen, often caused by a buildup of fluid
called ascites. This is generally regarded as a sign of liver
failure from protein malnutrition and correlated on blood tests with
a low serum albumin level. In addition, his bowels had almost ceased
to function. However, the most distressing symptom of his disease
was the intense pain that even morphine taken every four hours could
not alleviate. As a naturopath, I am often called to help terminally
ill cancer patients. At this point, my focus is directed toward
improving the quality of remaining life. This is where natural
healing can provide dramatic results.
Continue reading.
Understanding the Symptoms of Back Pain
Back pain, one of the most common medical afflictions, can be
considered an evolutionary side effect of upright posture. Walking
upright on two feet shifts upper body weight to the lower portion of
the spine, where most back pain occurs. As a rheumatologist who has
had to sort out thousands of cases of back pain, I have had to come
up with practical ways of dividing patient problems into diagnostic
categories.
Initially this involves asking a series of quick, probing
questions. Although everyone likes to think of himself as unique,
recurring themes usually separate back pain into specific groups.
For example, if bending down to pick a heavy suitcase causes
immediate back pain that persists for a week but causes no other
symptoms, it is likely that a muscle strain occurred. However, if
this pain shoots down the leg and leads to leg weakness, a ruptured
disc impinging on a nerve.
Continue reading
From Our
Bookstore
Women Living with Fibromyalgia: Refusing to Suffer in Silence
 Fibromyalgia
has no known cause or cure and is impossible to detect through blood
tests or other diagnostic techniques. Because it's so difficult to
pinpoint or alleviate, fibromyalgia tends to cause guilt and shame
in those who suffer from it. Barbara Keddy examines the experiences
of 20 female sufferers, and also investigates the disease within
larger societal contexts of gender, class, and race. By taking an
already existing personality theory (the highly sensitive person)
developed by Elaine Aron and relating this theory to a specific
physical condition, the author emphasizes societal and family
pressures on women to overextend themselves to the detriment of
their health.
Buy the book or
comment on the book
Looking for Journalers
Would you like to write your own journal here at
HealthyPlace.com?
 Journal writing is well recognized as a valuable technique to
develop thinking skills and self understanding. Personal journal
writing gives us an opportunity to contemplate ideas and reflect on
what we have learned. To write your own journal, fill out this
short application here.
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the wall
A place for your poetry, thoughts, and
comments
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If you wish to succeed in life,
make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor,
caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
--Joseph Addison
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HealthyPlace.com Radio
"Controlling People"
on HealthyPlace.com Radio
Does this sound like someone you know?
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Always needs to be right
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Tells you who you are and what you
think
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Implies that you're wrong or
inadequate when you don't agree
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Is threatened by people different from
him or herself
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Feels attacked when questioned
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Doesn't seem to really hear or see you
This Saturday, find out what it takes to free yourself from
controlling types; the kinds of people who inflict verbal abuse,
battering, stalking, harassment, hate crimes, gang violence,
tyranny, terrorism, and territorial invasion. And you can call in
and ask our psychiatrist what to do about your personal situation.
Join us this Saturday evening at 4 p.m. PST, 6 CST, 7 EST
as we discuss this problem. You can call in and share your stories
and ask our psychiatrist your personal questions.
Call us during the live show at
800-299-5872 or 210-599-5555.
Click here to visit the
site
We had a great show last week on "The Life of One Gay Teen".
You can listen to it when you
visit our archives.
Stay Tuned!
Sign up for the HealthyPlace.com Radio Show newsletter
when you click here.
Support
If you are looking to give or get support, join or cruise
through our email, icq
and instant messenger buddy lists.
Chronic Pain
Forums
Visit our Chronic Pain Forums and read what others suffering from
Chronic Pain have to say. If you have a question to the forum, or
have an experience you would like to share, please click the button
below.
click here now
Powerful
Documentary Films at HealthyPlace.com
HealthyPlace.com unveiled four of the most powerful mental health videos you
have ever seen. These are stories about
sexual molestation,
rape,
eating disorders and teens trapped in
abusive relationships.
What makes these mental health films different and so moving is that they
describe the impact of physical and sexual violence and misperceptions on their
victims. And for the most part, these stories are told in the victim's or
sufferer's own words.
You can watch them using your windows media player. We've also set up special
bulletin boards for your feedback.
Watch them Now!
Support Groups
Welcome. I'm HPC-Treeman. I host this support group for people
suffering from Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain.
It's not easy living with fibro or chronic pain. The purpose of
the group is to lend emotional support and to pass along information
which others may find helpful in managing their physical and
psychological symptoms.
Anyone with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Pain is welcome to join us.
There is no charge to attend. The meetings usually last about 1
hour.
I look forward to meeting you,
HPC-Treeman
Coping with Chronic Pain support group
Here's a list of
all hosted support groups at HealthyPlace.com
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