Cate Andrews is a PhD researcher from the University of Tasmania (School of Psychological Sciences) who is currently recruiting for an Australia-wide study titled Understanding the Healthcare Needs of People Living with Pelvic Pain. Cate contacted me and asked if I could help with the callout. She was particularly interested in hearing from people with diagnoses of pudendal neuralgia, vulvodynia, or painful bladder syndrome. Do you have 30 minutes for a chat? This chat can be broken up into shorter calls if more easily manageable. The post RESEARCH CALL: Understanding the Healthcare Needs of P ..read more

I’m so disappointed in Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett. I can’t believe this is an ABC story. Firstly, I do want to express my sadness for the people in the story whose lives were taken, destroyed and affected. Apparent to me from my life experience (sorry, only real life data available!) and this story [...] The post Four Corners… More like One. appeared first on pudendalnerve.com.au ..read more

In 2013, when I began making progress with pain management, I had the idea to make a marionette of myself. Theo and I had just travelled to Italy (masks and Pinocchios everywhere!), and returning on the plane I watched the film, Marilyn. It dawned on me how seriously invisible many illnesses are. As much as I would have loved to make the marionette myself, at the time, any self-portraits I was drawing or painting were horrifying. They were brutal, disturbing, and sad to the point where I had to ask Theo to wrap them up one day – I couldn't look at them anymore. The post The 17th Anniversary Po ..read more

Are you ready to punch the next healthcare professional you see who asks, 'Tell me your story'? Are you sick of asking for your health information, searching for it, collating it, or sending bits and pieces of yourself all over the place? The post Are you there yet? appeared first on pudendalnerve.com.au ..read more

Get ready to listen, learn and return to a better quality of life.  I 100% believe that had I met Anne-Florence in the first six months after my accident, I would not have endured chronic pain.  And this is why I'm confident Anne-Florence will help you return to your whole, fabulous, painless self - or as closest as possible. What she did for me after meeting me at my worst was nothing short of a life-saving boost. And a realignment. She popped me on the path to recovery, and even more than that, she reached me on a personal level, aiding my return to life with ideas relevant to me ..read more

Soula Mantalvanos (me!) as a guest contributor on MoreGoodDays. If you're living with fibromyalgia, you'll know first-hand how the experience forces you into constant symptom tracking. What’s this niggle? Is this new? Does this relate to something I did? What’s going on? Sound familiar? It's an exhausting thought process that can keep you spiralling ..read more

Every year I think something amazing will happen during National Pain Week. But every year, nothing amazing ever does. We all wait for answers, but either the answers don't come, or they prove more tiresome. Worst of all, the answers are a direction to a lonely zone – the figure-it-out-yourself zone! So, figure it out myself; I will this year! I'm making National Pain Week AMAZING by writing the end of this story.  ..read more

A few months ago and just appointed as CEO of Painaustralia, I was chatting to Giulia, who was making time to connect with people living with pain; our next step would be an interview for some media. Instead, I received an awful message.  Giulia is a tough cookie, just watch our chat and feel that fire in her! And she'll be using that fire to put this awful experience to great use - raising funds for So Brave and Painaustralia as she shaves her hair on 31 July. I want us all to get behind her. It's an opportunity to maximise this incredible act of bravery and help two causes tha ..read more

Woohooo! The startup world is beginning to thrive with people who want to impact healthcare using their negative experiences. These people want to help others, change the quality of care and make sure you get better faster. One of these great people is Neala Fulia, and I am excited to have the chance to introduce More Good Days (MGD), a new online digital healthcare company Neala founded dedicated to helping individuals find relief from chronic pain - specifically fibromyalgia. I'm also excited that MGD has become a Friend of My Health Story (MHS), which signifies a shared commitment to improv ..read more

Well, not entirely reading; using my ears instead! Where have I been? Seriously, how did I not get into Audible sooner? You would struggle to get me to switch my daily routine of listening to classical music – I love it and have been doing it for decades.  My alarm goes to ABC Classic ..read more