I had a rather heated conversation with my doctor the other day about — anger. Brain injury anger, to be specific. It had suddenly occurred to me that since the time of Phineas Gage in the 19th century, physicians and psychologists have known about how brain injury can change personality, including bringing on outbursts of…
Tag: Health care
Does a National Strategy on Mental Health Have Any Meaning in Canada?
The Mental Health Commission of Canada has released its National Strategy report. It took them five years to compile and write it. I understand that they had two Chairmen — the original one resigned. I’ve heard several interviews with the second Chairman, a physician, and the original Chairman, a Senator, and I caught a snippet…
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 Sleep Study
It’s me and the men. Fat men. Snoring men. Young men. And extremely picky men. That latter is a new one to me in my five (six?) sleep studies. Seriously, does this guy think a hospital is going to purchase his preferred kind of sheets just for him? It’s not like in the pre-bed bug…
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…
COTA Case Manager, the Saga Continues
Update to Case Management drama: I met with my case manager from COTA (see previous post for the story so far). I told her to get to it; I didn’t even give her a chance for her usual draining chit-chat. I needed my energy to get through the session with her; thankfully my moral anger…
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…