RSD, Chronic Pain

China’s refusal to allow an HIV-positive Australian author to enter the country has led to calls for the Beijing Government to change the law.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Researchers may be able to tell which memory of a past event a person is recalling from the pattern of their brain activity.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Most have probably heard of a ‘lazy’ eye, but researchers say it’s also possible to have a ‘lazy’ ear.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — As kids hit baseball diamonds across the country this spring, new studies show arm injuries are on the rise among little leaguers.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Smoking for a greater number of years may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease, but smoking a larger number of cigarettes per day does not.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Community support groups may be able to reduce neonatal deaths and lower rates of maternal depression, but only if the population coverage is wide enough and the programs are appropriately designed.

(Ivanhoe Newswire) — New polls report more differences than similarities in sleep habits among four major ethnic groups.

Recently, quite a few people at work have been let go for “attendance issues.”  In my opinion, there were certainly bigger issues with these people and if this was the quickest and easiest way to make a problem disappear, then good.  But it got me to thinking, too.  I’m thinking back to winter of 08/09 when my RSD went from pretty much in remission to almost taking over my daily life.  My hours are normally cut to almost zero that time of year but with some people leaving, I ended up on the schedule…a lot.  It wasn’t long before I used up all my sick time, then my available remaining vacation time, then I was still getting blocks, still getting meds changed constantly and having to adjust to new side effects but everyone seemed to understand and everytime I said I couldn’t come in this day because I had to go to the hospital or that day because I was too nauseous from the hospital or I’d be late because I had to wait for side effects to settle down before I could drive or I’d oversleep from some new med.  All my bosses ever said was it’s ok, don’t worry take care of yourself.  Eventually the dust settled, things normalized and then 3 months later I got blindsided with a write up for attendance issues.   My first and only one in all the years I’ve been there.

Now that things have seemed mostly controlled for a year, I can tell I’m heading into a worsening period again.  During my last bad bout, there were many changes to the FMLA which took effect in Mid January of 2009.  The ones most important to someone like me or some of you with a chronic condition is that FMLA allows for leave to be taken in increments in the smallest amount of time used for payroll accounting, (in my case, that means I can take it in 15 minute intervals for things like doctor visits, etc).  For people with chronic conditions, “periodic visits” are required to the healthcare provider, defined as not less than 2 visits per calendar year.  Remember that FMLA is unpaid time off from work.  It used to be that employees could take this time and use any available benefit time provided, such as sick or vacation time to cover the lost wage hours or the employee could opt to just take the time as unpaid.  One more change that took place is the employer now has the right to require the employee to use available benefit time during FMLA time so as to limit the amount of additional time the employee is away from work.  If you have an Employee Relations or Human Resources department at your work, you can find out more info from them or you can contact your Federal or State Department of Labor.  Knowing the laws that are on your side can be a tremendous reduction in stress. 

Forum: On the Subject

Saint Joseph’s University’s Ancient Studies program is sponsoring a conference focusing on a collection of recently discovered documents that shed light on a Jewish settlement in ancient Mesopotamia. “Jerusalem in Babylonia: New Discoveries from the Exilic Period,” will be held March 21-22 in the University’s Campion Student Center.