Sooo … I was in a clinical trial recently. It was, uh, interesting being on the other side of the guinea pig fence. The drug did more than expected. And then it was taken away! But I get ahead of myself. It was March 1 when this story began. I saw a new specialist and…
Tag: Brain Treatment
What is Good Standard of Health Care?
Standard of care. It’s a phrase that gets tossed around a lot. Let me tell you a story about what it should not be, especially for a person in a drug research trial. Before I begin, a note on my background. I grew up as the daughter of a clinician-researcher who is to this day,…
Support Gives Life
An elderly gent said to me: you look…you look alive! This gent has known me a long time, starting in what I call my hell years after I had suffered a closed head injury aka traumatic brain injury. Back then, I used to see him weekly, yet when I spotted him one time in a…
The New Sleep Specialist
A new year, another new doctor. The first thing my new specialist said as soon as I sat down was: I know what your problem is. Pause. You have physician fatigue. No kidding. Astute. I don’t recall another doctor noticing that on their own or, if have, acknowledging it openly to me. I immediately paid…
New COTA Case Manager, A Total 180
Boy, did I fall down on the job. I thought I’d written a final follow-up post on my case manager saga. I hadn’t! Oops. In a nutshell: a total 180. I met with my new case manager in the afternoon. He spent one and a half hours familiarizing himself with my needs, writing down a…
The Sleep Questionnaire Marathon
Sleep disturbances and brain injury go together like bread and butter. But I had sleep problems even before my injury. I’ve had four (five?) night-time sleep studies and one day-time one, the latter as part of the first night-time study. They’re, uh, fun. Think round things glued with concrete to your skull, straps round your…
My COTA Health Case Manager is Driving me to Chocolate
I have a brain injury. That means, through some incomprehensible bureaucratic logic, I receive social work, occupational therapy (OT), physiotherapy, etc. through my local CCAC or Community Care Access Centre, and case management through COTA Health, which stands for something to do with occupational therapy. And they only talk to each other if CCAC makes…
Medicine Admits Concussions Bad but Still Doesn’t Understand
I read an article in The Toronto Star recently titled “A Blow to the Head is a Big Deal” by Megan Ogilvie (8 April 2011), and I knew I had to read it. It wasn’t long before I was grumbling and had to comment on it. So here are some excerpts with my thoughts. ““The…
The GI Diet: Could I Stick it in the Long Run?
A reader asked me recently about where I’m at with the GI Diet, if I’m still on it, and if it’s working for me. Back in 2009, my GP had recommended I go on it when I was diagnosed with diabetes. I had written a couple of followups, but my last one was over a…