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Friday 13 January 2012

Body in Mind - Luke Parkitny


It is well established that pain is in the brain. But what happens in the early stages of CRPS to turn a minor injury to something so devastating? 

Luke Parkitny talks CRPS at Body in Mind

He is looking into whether there are inflammatory factors involved in the early stages of the disease.

 

Friday 6 January 2012

Looking out for a new outlook - new year, the dawn of change...

New year is one of my favourite days of the year. It's the day of resolutions, of dreaming of what the future will bring. Of hoping that this year will top the last. Usually I don't do much at midnight, but my favourite thing is getting up at the crack of dawn to drive to the beach with my mother in Australia. We stand there in the the semi-light, watching the sky get brighter and brighter. All of a sudden, a sharp shard of sunlight would break over the mountain and paint the ocean in shades of orange and yellow. 

Getting up for the first sunrise of the year was always something special with Mum. We love the beach, and to see the very first time the sun graced the new year; before it hit anywhere else in the world (well, apart from New Zealand and the other Pacific Islands on our side of the date line!). It always brought me a lot of hope for what the new year would bring. Of course, sometimes the new year brought in more difficulties. Nonetheless, I always had a small wish for the pain to go away; that maybe this year would bring remission from my symptoms and less pain. That has never happened. However, from the sunrise of 2011; it brought with it a big change in my attitude. Passing my 10 year mark really changed how I viewed my life.

10 years was a huge hurdle. Once I reached that; I knew that life would never be so difficult as it was during the first decade. I know myself a lot better now; I see how far I have come. I've done more things than I could have ever dreamed of. I know my condition much better than anyone, doctors included. I am finally in control - not of the pain, but of how I manage it - I am in control of my life!