self-help

Techniques to Help Us Make Changes

Mavis Matheson, MD, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

In 1995, I wrote an article called Changing Your Life By Conserving Energy. In it, I listed three techniques from an article by Sybil Kohl. Her techniques have helped me to make healthy choices and prevent further pain and weakness. Kohl [1] suggests three techniques that we could use to help ourselves make changes.

These are push to avoid pain, blank pad and plain talk.

What's a Patient to Do?

Nancy Baldwin Carter, BA, M Ed Psych, Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Let’s say we’re doctor-shopping. Maybe we’ve moved to a new city or our long-time doc is retiring—for whatever reason, we need a different doctor. Question is—where to start? How to choose?

Part I — Opening the Door; PART II—The Rest of the Story

Nancy Baldwin Carter, BA, M Ed Psych, Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Part I — Opening the Door

The subject doesn’t come up much. Not many in the post-polio community seem to want to talk about it.

…Even though the American Medical Association declared it a disease well over forty years ago, in 1966.

Best Post-Polio Advice

From the series, Polio Survivors Ask, by Nancy Baldwin Carter, B.A, M.Ed.Psych, from Omaha, Nebraska, is a polio survivor, a writer, and is founder and former director of Nebraska Polio Survivors Association.

Q: We have known about the late effects of polio for almost 30 years. I've gotten a lot of advice during that time and wonder about other polio survivors. What's the best post-polio advice you ever received?