Your Failure to Plan Doesn’t Constitute an Emergency On My Part: Mandatory Overtime

 When we think of mandatory – or forced – overtime, our minds might go back to the day before labor unions, when people in factories were steadily working hour after hour, day after day, in unsafe and unpleasant conditions. But mandatory overtime is not a thing of the past for some nurses in Canada. It’s a reality.

No one argues that units must be staffed – there must be a certain number of nurses to maintain a safe level of patient care. But what happens when there is no staff to cover the next shift?

At first, supervisors usually ask for volunteers who would like to work overtime. But what does the hospital do when no nurse steps forward? If they can’t call for outside help (private agencies), their only option may be to pressure nurses into working another shift or, to bluntly tell nurses that they must stay. This is mandatory overtime, although they may not use those words.

While the administrators are solving their staffing problems, they are causing a whole host of problems for their nurses who need or want to go home – they may have daycare issues, classes to attend, senior relatives to care for, important appointments to keep, or they may need to get some much needed sleep.

If nurses refuse to work overtime, they may be threatened with “abandoning their patients.” However, according to the Canadian Federation of Nurses in their position statement on mandatory overtime, this is not true. The union says, ”It is important [to know] that refusing duty to care is not [to be] confused with client abandonment, which occurs when a nurse leaves before the end of a scheduled shift, or being unavailable during a scheduled shift for a period of time that compromises patient/resident/client care.” So, by saying that you can’t/won’t work an extra shift, you cannot be told you are abandoning your patients. But that is on paper. Our conscience may say otherwise.

Research has shown that tired workers make more mistakes. Tired workers have more accidents going home. They are unhappier overall, and their health may suffer over the long-term. In fact, a 2015 review study, published in the Lancet, looked at people who consistently worked more than the usual 40-hour workweek. The researchers found several studies that concluded that these workers are at a higher risk of stroke.

This problem must be addressed, particularly as patients who are in the hospital are sicker than they ever were before. They need more eyes on them, more procedures done with them, and more split second decisions made. Their nurses must be on the ball and refreshed, not tired and frustrated because they are at work against their will.

The union’s position paper goes on to say, “With the exception of disaster situations, or emergency circumstances (where the Code of Ethics outlines the duty to provide care), nurses unions feel that there are no circumstances whereby employers should mandate employees to work overtime. Mismanagement of human resources and chronic unfilled vacancies do not constitute emergency conditions or grounds for ordering mandatory overtime. Additionally, the right to refuse duty to care may also be applied during an emergency situation when ability to provide safe care is compromised by unreasonable expectations, lack of resources or ongoing threats to personal well-being.”

In other words, your failure to plan ahead of time doesn’t constitute an emergency on my part.

What do you think hospitals should do if there is no one available when a nurse’s shift is over?

Lack of Sleep Makes for Cranky Teens, Says Study - You Think?

I'm on the duh-study trail again. My latest find is "Adolescent sleep duration is associated with daytime mood." Well then. What a shocking finding from a National Institutes of Health supported study.

According to the news release (I don't have a copy of the study findings), the researchers studied 97 healthy teens from 14 to 17 years old to follow their sleeping habits. The teens were allowed only 6.5 hours in bed per night for five nights in a row (sleep restriction), then a two-night break (a "washout period") and this was followed by five nights straight of 10 hours in bed per night. The researchers looked at the teens' daily self reports on nervousness, sadness, anger, energy, fatigue, ability to concentrate, and sleepiness.

According to the news release:

Results show that adolescents showed increased variability in sadness, anger, and sleepiness when sleep was restricted compared to when sleep was extended. This effect was not moderated by age, sex, race, or the order in which participants underwent the sleep conditions.
The study also showed that nightly fluctuations in sleep in healthy adolescents predict worse mood the next day, and worse mood any given day largely predicts unusually bad sleep the next night.

So here we have it - less sleep equals less happy teens. Any parent could have told us that.

In all seriousness, the authors do say that the research is necessary because they are concerned about the mental health of teens - an important issue to be sure. But their conclusion, that these findings indicate that by promoting healthy sleep habits, we may be able to reduce the risk of mental health problems among some teens, is too simplistic. We know that lack of sleep causes problems, particularly if it's chronic. We also know that teens need a lot of sleep, as they did when they were infants - a teen's body is growing and changing at incredible rates.

My issue with these Duh Studies is that they're sent out into the media world without any real meaning. Yes, teens need sleep. Yes, they're crabby and don't function well without sleep. Now what?

Old News: Noise in Hospitals Disturbs Patients

If you've ever been a patient in a hospital, you know that hospitals are not where you go to rest. And if you happen to have a room next to a nursing station or the entry to the unit or floor,  you're even worse off because of all the noise.

Even as a young nurse, I was aware that noise was an issue, particularly during the night shifts. I tried to speak at a lower level and not move around the rooms as much if I could avoid it. But, patient care still needed to be done and I found myself often waking patients so I could do certain procedures or give medications. I would feel so bad for the patients who had just finally fallen asleep, only to have me wake them up.

I had my three children at the same hospital, and the first two times, I was placed in a room right across from the nursing station. That experience opened my eyes. I got no rest. People were constantly walking past my room, rolling noisy carts and chatting with others. Some people would be calling up the hallway to colleagues as they asked or answered questions. The phone would ring all day long and staff members of all stripes would gather at the station, particularly at the change of shift. It was N.O.I.S.Y. Even with the door closed, I was disturbed. Night time was quieter, but there was still chatter and the noise of all the call bells that would go off all night long. It was anything but restful. I lucked out with my third child though - I was given the last room at the end of the hall. It was so quiet, it was like I was in a different place altogether.

The thing is, we already know that hospitals aren't restful places and that they're noisy. Researchers have been studying this - although they really just needed to speak to some patients to find out. But at least now, they're taking the noise seriously. There was a study presented at a conference earlier this month, showing how loud an intensive care unit can be, Quiet please in the intensive care unit! As a former ICU nurse, I could relate.

What does this all mean? It's hard to say. Patients are limited in power. They could ask to have doors closed, but they can't do anything about the alarms and the need for healthcare staff to communicate with each other in the halls. They also can't do anything about room placements or if they are near a hub of activity.

Hopefully continued research like this ICU one may change some policies - changing how alarms are used and instituting quiet times, when noisy activities stop and patients are encouraged to rest are a good start. Some facilities are already doing this. We know we need sleep to heal, to get better. The thing is figuring out how to provide it in the hospital environment.

It's Duh Study Time Again

As a health writer, I read many press releases about articles and studies that have been or will be published in the medical journals. Some of these are quite interesting while others are, quite frankly, head scratchers.

I've written before about my idea of Duh Studies - studies that make you think, "Seriously? They had to study that?" This week, I found two great entries for the Duh Study database, two days in a row. I don't think that has happened before:

"Pain keeps surgery patients awake, extends hospital stay." Did you know that? That if you have uncontrolled pain, you can't sleep, which could in turn affect your ability to heal? To be honest, this particular one bothered me because pain is an issue that is often not taken seriously. I wrote about the myths involved in the whole area of pain when I was preparing to give a talk on chronic pain. But when we need studies to tell us that people who have just been cut open, had joints taken out and replaced and then sewn back up have pain? Wow. Just wow.

and

"Not all Hispanics are the same when it comes to drinking." Another doozy. Do I even need to write down what I find offensive about this one?

"A new Michigan State University study indicates that the risk of alcohol abuse and dependence can vary significantly among different subgroups within the population."

I'm just shaking my head on this one.

Some people may say, "what's the harm in these?" While there is no actual harm (that I can think of) in these types of studies, I do think that they lower the value of research overall. What kind of impression do these types of findings give to laypeople who read that researchers are spending such valuable time and money in these ways? One can argue that it is important to study obvious things in order to move forward to more intricate details and perhaps this is true. If that is the case then perhaps it's the media's fault, for even making news out the findings? I don't know.

Do you have any Duh Studies to add?

Paging Dr. Google...

When you or a family member becomes ill, do you Google their symptoms? Do you dig deeper and deeper until you've scared yourself half to death and now you feel that you've gotten some incurable illness?

According to the Pew Research Internet Project, over half of Internet users are looking for information on a disease, medical problem, medical treatments, or medical procedures. The article also lists the most commonly searched illnesses (as per WebMD) as:

• Shingles
• Gallbladder
• Gout
• Hemorrhoids
• Lupus
• Skin Problems
• Allergies
• Heart Disease
• Diabetes
• Sleep Disorders

and the most commonly searched treatments as:

• Pain relievers
• Anti-depressants
• High blood pressure medication
• Corticosteroids
• Hysterectomy
• Diabetes medication
• ADHD medication
• Antibiotics
• Colonoscopy
• Cholesterol-lowering medication

Cyberchondria

While the Internet has been a tremendous help for people who want to learn more about an illness or to connect with others who have the same issues, it also has given birth to a condition called cyberchondria. It's so real that there's even a Wikipedia page on it. ;-) But as much as some may laugh about cyberchondria, it can be a serious problem. Serious enough that people who have been to see a doctor, even getting a second opinion, may not be satisfied and may continue to seek medical help even though they get the same responses.

While most people don't fall into the extreme of cyberchondria, many do end up worrying needlessly because the symptoms of a simple stomach bug may be seen as stomach cancer. Itching skin may be seen as something wrong with the liver. A swollen lymph gland may be seen as lymphoma, a type of cancer. This isn't too different from the days when families discussed illnesses and someone in the family would say that your symptoms sounded just like their friend's cousin's brother-in-law's best friend's sister's illness, which turned out to be the plague. Except with the Internet, the information is relayed much more quickly.

If you are looking for health information, it's essential that you look at reputable sites - not ones that are trying to sell you miracle cures. I wrote a post about it several years ago, but the information is still valid: How to search for health info on the Internet.

So, look for information, but don't rely on what you read. Dr. Google doesn't have a medical degree. Yet.

Sleep - What should be natural evades so many of us

The expression "sleeping like a baby" can be confusing. While it's true that babies can and do sleep very deeply, they also can wake up because of the slightest sound if it comes at the right/wrong time. How many sleep-deprived parents ended up tiptoeing around their babies after spending hours trying to get them to sleep - only to have the doorbell or phone ring moments later?

When we were children, we often fought the need for sleep. We wanted to stay up a little longer, read one more chapter, watch one more television show - anything to keep from going to bed. You never know what we might miss if we're sleeping! As teens, many of us didn't want to go to bed, but once we were in it, it could take dynamite to get us out. But then as adults, as our lives become more complex, we have more responsibilities, sleep often begins to evade us. We don't have time to go to bed when we would like, we toss and turn, and have to get up much earlier than our body would like. What went wrong?

Research into sleep and its effect on our health is ongoing and the results are interesting. In 2008, Harvard University published an article called The Hidden Cost of Insufficient Sleep. The author discusses some of the physical effects that lack of sleep can cause, such as obesity and heart disease. This really came as no surprise to many people who do live with sleep issues. This article from Norway, Insomnia can cause fibromyalgia, (2011) also discusses the issue.

Insomnia or interrupted sleep can also have an effect on our mental health. A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that people who experienced insomnia had a higher risk of developing depression than did those who did not have insomnia. Another article examines the relationship between insomnia and depression: Is Chronic Insomnia a Precursor to Major Depression?

There is also, of course, a lot to be said about how certain health issues cause sleep problems. Someone with fibromyalgia, for example, may be very fatigued but unable to sleep because of pain or sensory issues. Someone who is anxious or depressed may not be able to get to sleep or stay asleep. Other conditions that cause chronic pain or even those that cause inconveniences, such as having to wake up several times a night to urinate, all cause interruptions in sleep that then means a restful sleep has not happened.

So is there hope? Sleep isn't taken seriously enough by many people but it should be. If you are having difficulty sleeping, speak to your doctor about it. Keep a journal with the number of hours you've slept, observations from your sleeping partner if you have one, and how you feel every day. Armed with this information, you may have a better discussion with your doctor or nurse practitioner about what is happening.

Sleeping pills do help many people, but there are other issues involved with medications for sleep, so if a non-medication method can be helpful, it is usually best to try those first.

Do you have trouble sleeping? If so, what do you do for it? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section and maybe we can learn from each other.

Previous posts about sleep on my blog:

• Why don't older people and some sleeping pills mix
• Time changes - more to it than the Clock Change Shuffle
• Is it time for a nap yet?

Length of Maternity Leave and Postpartum Depression: A Connection?

The topic of maternity leave can get quite heated between certain groups of people. Some feel it is an important period that provides multiple benefits to mother and child, while others feel it is an entitlement and a luxury. Sure, they argue, moms need to have some time to recover from childbirth, particularly if it is a c-section, but extended maternity leaves are just a time to stay away from work without expectations.

So, are maternity leaves important or a luxury? I have to admit that, as a Canadian, I have a very different experience with maternity leave than do many of my colleagues in the United States. And, since I was working clinically as a nurse when I had my children, I even had a different experience than many of my fellow Canadian mothers at the time.

Over 26 years ago, when I had my first (of three) children, Quebec nurses received 20 weeks of 93% of their salary in maternity leave benefits. After that, we could take up to a total of two years from our position, unpaid, and be guaranteed our job or an equivalent one on our return. Other women in Canada who did not have a similar type of union agreement, received 15 weeks of maternity leave, at about 60% of their salary. The first two weeks were unpaid, so it came out to 17 weeks off work.*

I had no idea back then that my US colleagues had no such similar rights to maternity leave. I began to hear stories of women returning to work when their infants were six or seven weeks old because they had used up all their sick leave and holiday time. I couldn’t imagine leaving my babies that young. Some mothers may bounce back right away, but I sure didn’t after my first delivery, my son who was over 9 pounds. He was starving all the time and he didn’t sleep through the night for a long time, which made for a pair of very tired parents.


Now, in 2013, all across Canada, new mothers can take anywhere from 17 weeks to a full year from their job and they are guaranteed their job (or equal equivalent) upon their return. If they’re eligible, they get 15 weeks income of about 55% of their wages from the national employment insurance program (for birth or adoption). Union or contract arrangements can top up the sum, as it did for me back in 1987. A few years ago, changes were made in the program so fathers could benefit from this leave as well, sharing it with the mother.


Sadly, things don’t seem to have improved all that much in the U.S. for new mothers. According to FMLA, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, childbirth is included in a list of medical conditions that allows for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave, but even this isn’t available to all as small employers are not required to provide this. Anecdotally, I’ve had colleagues tell me horror stories of how they had to fight for maternity leave - without pay - returning to work when their babies were three months old or younger. And how many can afford to take that time off without any form of income?


Maternity leave is not a luxury. It is important that society realizes that it’s a vital part of keeping our families healthy.


There has been a lot in the news over the past few years about postpartum depression. Sadly, we hear about it most with sensationalist news stories of mothers who murder their children and commit suicide as they can no longer cope with the burden of the depression. A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry earlier this year found that 40.1% of 10,000 women experienced depression within the first year of childbirth and 19.3%, almost one fifth, of these women had thoughts of self-harm. Other studies have found a connection between mothers with postpartum depression and child development.


Returning to work before you are physically and/or psychologically ready can increase your risk of developing postpartum depression, says the authors of a study published this week in the Journal of Health Politics and Law. The researchers examined the results of a survey of more than 800 new mothers. The survey asked questions about their return to work and their mental and physical health at six weeks after delivery, 12 weeks, six months, and 12 months. Seven percent of the mothers went back to work by the time their infants were six weeks old, 46% by the time they were 12 weeks old, and 87% by the time they were six months old.


The researchers found that the longer a woman was home with her baby, the lower the depression scores, as were measured on a scale called the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

"In the United States, most working women are back to work soon after giving birth, with the majority not taking more than three months of leave," said study co-author Dr. Rada K. Dagher in a press release. "But our study showed that women who return to work sooner than six months after childbirth have an increased risk of postpartum depressive symptoms."

When dealing with an issue as serious as postpartum depression, this needs to be taken seriously. Currently, the U.S. is only one of three countries of 181 that does not offer paid maternity leave. The other two are Papua New Guinea and Switzerland.


Maternity leave isn’t a chance to sit at home and do nothing while being paid. It’s providing both mother and child the best possible start, possibly preventing other costly health issues down the road.


*Nurses were paid by the hospital/government 93% of the salary for the two-week waiting period. For the next 15 weeks, employment insurance pay out was topped up, and this was followed by an additional hospital/government payout of 93% for the last three weeks, for a total of 20 weeks.

Health Care - from Your Tablet or Smart Phone?

What do you do if you have a quick question you want to ask your doctor or a nurse? Do you have access to someone? Can you call your doctor's office for an answer? What if you're not feeling well, but you don't know if it's something that should be looked at or if you'll be better if you get a good night's sleep? The answer might soon be in your pocket, purse, or backpack if you have a tablet or smart phone.

Today's world is full of instant communication. Having a phone in hand all the time makes phone calls or texts a quick thing to do, rather than when you used to have to wait until you got home, to the office, or even if you found a pay phone. The Internet has added to this "instant-ness" by providing you with information as fast as you can type your search request. So, can our health care fall into this type of category?

According to an article written by HealthDay News, which undertook a survey on how people might want to use their technology for their health care, "one-third of respondents who are online said they were "very" or "extremely" interested in using smartphones or tablets to ask their doctors questions, make appointments or get medical test results."

For the past two years, I have been able to make appointments with two of my doctors online and I do like that convenience very much. The convenience of making appointments online is considerable and this was reinforced a few weeks ago when I had to make an appointment with another doctor the "old-fashioned" way, by phone. It took a few calls before I could finally get through to someone. But, once I did, the receptionist was very helpful and apologetic.

With the online booking system my other doctors use, you can make your appointment and if it's not soon enough for your liking, you can check daily for cancellations and grab one if an opening comes up. The drawback to the system, however, is these doctors have cut back on their receptionists or their hours and if you need to call to ask a question (no email), it's very, very, VERY difficult to get through. You have to call many times, different times of the day to finally speak to someone because their system doesn't take voicemail.

While being able to email your doctor to ask questions may be appealing to many people, we have to take into consideration practicalities. One email from you might not take much time to answer, but if your doctor receives 30 emails in a day from patients, some with complex questions, when is she going to have time to respond when she is supposed to be seeing patients? And, of course, we all know how email piles up when you're not in the office, so if your doctor is off for a day or two, is working in a clinic or hospital for a day, or is just at home overnight - that 30 emails can easily balloon to a much higher number. This system may not be sustainable.

On the other hand, a system that allows doctors' offices to send normal test results straight to a patient via text or email could save considerable time and stress on behalf of the patients who may be worrying about what the tests will show. Many doctors will say to patients "We'll call if the tests show anything out of the ordinary," meaning they won't call if things are normal. But that leaves people hanging. Did the doctor not call because the tests were normal or did he not call because the results haven't come in? Or did he not call because the tests did come in and he did mean to call, but something happened and the call never happened?

So, what do you think? Can you get hold of your doctor or healthcare professional whenever you need? Would you like to be able to email your doctor? But how would it be possible for the doctors to take on this extra task in their already busy day?

Conferences - Educational, Fun, but Tiring.

Have you ever gone out of town to a business-related conference? I'm at one right now if you're reading this on the posting date. I'm in Toronto, Ontario for MagNet 2013, meeting together with fellow member of the Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) and others in the writing, editing and publishing field.

This is my third writing-related conference (and last) this year. For some reason, the associations I belong to all have their conferences within the first six month of the year, starting in March and ending in the beginning of June. It's exciting, invigorating, educational, and fun. But it's also very tiring and can lead to you being run down and becoming ill.

So, what to do?

Be prepared. If you are traveling to attend the conference, take into account that this can tire you out. Air travel is very drying, so you have to stay hydrated. Sitting for long periods on trains, planes, or in cars can be hard on your back and your circulation. On planes and trains, try to get up and walk around. In cars, try to make regular stops to get out and stretch. 

Bring healthy snacks

While many conference organizers provide snacks of some kind, not all do and if they do, they're not always the healthy kind. There have been many conference I've attended where the only offerings were sticky buns, donuts, or muffins. So I make sure to pack some granola bars or and/some fruit. If I'm traveling into the US (can't bring fruit across the border), I find a local grocery store to buy some to keep in my room.

Drink water, lots of it

I'm not sure why, but the convention centers and hotels I've been to are always very dry. There is usually a never ending supply of coffee handy and water - choose the water as much as possible. While the coffee may be good and satisfying at the time, you may not feel so happy when you try to sleep later if you've had too much caffeine.

Watch the alcohol intake

It's so tempting. You're gathering with like-minded people and you're enjoying yourself over a few drinks. Don't forget, you may be working with or for some of these people later so you really should be on your best behaviour. Don't overdo the alcohol. Plus, you don't want to be hung over for the next day's sessions.

Get your sleep

I bring earplugs with me whenever I travel. Hotels are NOISY. Even when other guests are being respectful and aren't running up and down the halls, shouting out at each other, doors slam, people do talk, and noise happens. For me, I can't stand the sound of the fan in the room, from the AC or heat. Since I started bringing ear plugs with me, I've been sleeping much, much better, allowing me to benefit from the next day's events.

Wash your hands, wash  your hands, wash your hands....

There's a lot of handshaking going on, elevator buttons pushed, and lots and lots of contact that you may not have every day in your usual life. Keep a small container of hand cleanser nearby and wash your hands. You don't want to catch a cold or pick up some other virus either here or on your way home. 

Take time for yourself

It's easy to become overwhelmed being with so many people all day long for a few days in a row. You're meeting new people, learning new things, and your routine is out of whack. You need to take some time to yourself. If that means waking up a half hour earlier to go for a walk or pop into the hotel gym, do it. Perhaps you can skip one of the sessions and get outside to get some fresh air or go to your room to be by yourself. 

Sure, it's tempting to accept all invitations to go out for drinks or meet up for lunch - and isn't that why you're attending this in the first place? But stop and think if you really need to accept all of the invites. If you overdo it, if you become overwhelmed, you may end up getting sick or just not being able absorb everything around you. That happened to me last year. During my third conference, I was hit by a migraine. They're not fun at home. They're even less so in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home.

Do you have any tips for conference goers?

Can Bed Sharing Cause Infant Death from SIDS?

It seems like a perfectly natural thing to do - bring your baby into bed with you so you both can get some sleep. It's particularly tempting if your baby wakes up frequently during the night. It keeps from having to get up from your own bed to comfort the child or to nurse, if you're breastfeeding. Parents all over the world practice co-sleeping, either part-time (out of perceived necessity) or all the time. But is it a good idea? Could this practice be putting your child at risk?

In 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a position statement against co-sleeping.

"Infants may be brought into the bed for feeding or comforting but should be returned to their own crib or bassinet when the parent is ready to return to sleep. Because of the extremely high risk of SIDS and suffocation on couches and armchairs, infants should not be fed on a couch or armchair when there is a high risk that the parent might fall asleep."

While SIDS (sudden infant death) remains unexplained, the risk of suffocation is considered to be high enough that the Academy advises against the practice.


Of course, thousands, if not millions of children have co-slept with their parents without anything bad happening to them. But one could argue that it's not unlike the seatbelt debate of many years ago. While seat-belts save lives, millions of people have ridden safely in cars without them. It's only when there's an accident that the seatbelt comes into play.

A new study was just published in the British journal BMJ Open, with findings that seem to back up the concerns of co-sleeping. The researchers looked at the cases of 1,472 babies who died of SIDS and 4,679 controls (healthy babies). None of the parents were smokers (often considered a risk for SIDS). All babies were younger than three months old.

The researchers found that a little over 22 percent of the babies who died co-slept with a parent or both parents, while not quite 10 percent of healthy babies did. The researchers also found that as the babies got older, the risk dropped somewhat. According to a press release put out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine:

The researchers estimate that 81% of cot deaths among babies under 3 months with no other risk factors could be prevented if they did not sleep in the same bed as their parents. The study also showed that the risk associated with bed sharing decreases as a baby gets older, and that the peak period for instances of cot death was between 7 and 10 weeks. months old, were breastfed, and had no other known risk factors for SIDS.

So, what do you think? I wasn't comfortable sleeping with my babies, although there were times when I did fall asleep while nursing them in bed. I didn't even like having them in my room because I'm a very light sleeper and their noises, which are so cute during the day, weren't so cute when they kept waking me up.

Stressed New Mom? Try Blogging

We all know that new moms have tons and tons of free time, right? (hey folks, my tongue is firmly in cheek!) Okay, new moms may feel stressed and overwhelmed, particularly as our society has become more fragmented, with families and friends often miles away, if not in another country altogether. The sense of community that used to help so many new moms over the generations may not be there anymore, but there is a new type of community that may be able to take its place. It's found on the Internet and it is, believe it or not, blogging.

Email and Skyping with friends and family is a great way to stay in touch, but blogging - the modern form of journaling - can be an effective way to get out thoughts and feelings, and promote discussion among others, contributing to that sense of community.

This topic was interesting enough to catch the eye of researchers from Brigham Young University who surveyed 157 new mothers about their media use and their well-being. After assessing the survey responses, the researchers found that there was a significant correlation between a strong connection to family and friends, and increased feelings of social support. When this happened, there was higher marital satisfaction and less parenting stress reported. Interestingly, using social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) was neither helpful or not helpful.

The moms were asked to rate their feelings on scales that corresponded to the various items, which included how much time was spent on different activities, such as sleeping, childcare, housework, and computer usage. The totalled amounts showed that women spent the most of time on childcare (9 hours per day) and sleep (7 hours per day) and the third most time-consuming activity? That was using the Internet, which weighed in at about 3 hours per day.

According to a press release describing the study findings, "The researchers found that 61 percent of the mothers surveyed wrote their own blogs and 76 percent read blogs. Eight-nine percent of the mothers who wrote their own blogs did so to 'document personal experiences or share them with others,' and 86 percent wanted to stay in touch with family and friends through the blog."

What do you think? If you're a new mom, do you blog or participate in other blogs? If you're an older mom, do you wish you had this type of outlet when your children were younger?

Relaxing Sunday - to Get Healthy Again

Relaxing Sundays aren't just important for your mental health, they're important for your physical health - whether you think you need them or not.

On Friday evening, I returned from a writing conference that took place in Toronto, Canada. Two weekends ago, I spent two full days at quilting workshops here in Montreal (no travelling), and two weeks before that I was at another writing conference, this time in New York City.

You would think that the events were well spaced and that I would be ok with this activity but it turned out that it wasn't ok for me. I arrived in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon, not feeling sick but not feeling well.

Eventually, the fatigue became so overwhelming to the point that I had to leave one session to go to my room to sleep for 20 minutes so I could continue. And then a migraine set in Friday morning. If that wasn't bad enough, that was the day I was supposed to present on a panel. I wasn't an attendee at this point, I was a panelist. Not Good.

Thankfully, I had medication with me and a caring colleague who brought me some food so I could put something in my stomach before I could take the medication. After a few more hours of sleep, I was up and about again before lunch.

While I can't prove it, I do believe it was my body saying, "hey girl - you're doing too much and the fibromyalgia pal you've been stuck with doesn't like it."

So, this weekend had to be a relaxing weekend. I had no choice. Saturday, yesterday, was spent napping and - yup - working on a quilt (while watching the Netherlands give up a game in the EuroCup). This quilt is very special. It's a wallhanging for my best friend of almost 35 years.

Doreen loves birch trees. I have a lovely birch tree watercolour that my father-in-law painted for me many years ago and Doreen loves it. Every time she sees it, she reminds me that when I die, she is to get it. Never mind that we're the same age! ;-) My father-in-law was a lovely man and he knew how much Doreen loved this painting, so he painted her one a few years before he died.

When I was at the quilting exhibition last month, I took a class with Wendy Butler Burns and she had some of her patterns available for sale. One was of birch trees and it was her last one. So I bought it. Last week, when I wasn't working on something at my computer, I was cutting out bits of fabric and putting it together.

I would work for a while, completing a task and then I rewarded myself by creating for a while. I just had to be careful that the creating part didn't take longer than the working part!

Isn't it lovely? It's nowhere near finished though. I still have to embellish it and quilt it, but I do like how the colours came together and I hope she enjoys looking at it as much as I am enjoying putting it together.

For the quilters here, I used mostly batiks in this along with a few hand dyes that someone had given me and a couple of tone-on-tone fabrics. I may be doing some couching along the trees and separating the lake from the grass in the front and mountains in the back - and the rest of the embellishment will happen as I go.

I am blessed. As awful as I felt when the fatigue overwhelmed me, I know that I have a life that allows me to rest when I have to and I know that I have things that I love to do that help me do just that.

Remember - take time for yourself. Your body needs it. You need it.

Fibromyalgia, It's Not Real/Yes It Is

"Fibromyalgia doesn't exist; it's just a catch-all that doctors use when they don't know what else to tell you."

Do you believe this statement about fibromyalgia (FM)? Some people do. I posted a question on a email list for a professional group I belong to, asking something from people who have FM. I received a lengthy email in response from a colleague I'd never met. Her email outlined for me why FM is not a real illness and doesn't exist, and that she got upset whenever she heard someone saying that they were diagnosed with it. She said it was a phase that she hoped would go away, because telling someone they had FM did more harm than good.

This person pointed out that there are doctors who have written online that it doesn't exist and she had taken the time to find some and then copy and paste their words into the email. Then, after this lengthy email, she told me she had to cut it short because she had to go out.

I thought long and hard before responding. The email had started with something along the lines of "I hope you don't mind dissention," and it ended with something like "I hope I haven't offended you."

I don't mind dissention, as long as we are polite about it, which she was. I didn't think I was offended, but I wasn't sure.

I tried explaining to her through my carefully worded response that anyone can write anything on the Internet. This is one of the great things about the medium, but also one of the great drawbacks. That being said, there is much research going into this illness that has been around for generations, but called by different names. The name "fibromyalgia" was only given recently, as researchers learned more about it.

Physical findings

There are physical findings in people who have FM, such as an elevated level of substance P, a neurotransmitter in the cerebral spinal fluid. Although the illness is far from being solved, this increased level of substance P is one tiny piece of the puzzle that explains why people with FM feel more pain than people who don't have it.

There are many illnesses or health problems that don't have obvious and identifiable causes. Migraines are a good example, as is clinical depression. However, they are accepted as the medical problems that they are. I ended my note stating that I wasn't quite sure why she felt she needed to send me her email as it had nothing to do with the original request. I didn't ask about a debate over FM, I asked if anyone who had FM had any questions that I could use in a project I am working on.

The response

Unfortunately, my response wasn't taken in the way I hoped it was. I am a big believer in discussion, but I don't believe in the "I'm right and you're wrong" approach without discussion. I am perfectly willing to discuss why people may not believe in FM, but I would hope that they would listen to the arguments as to why people do believe it does exist. They don't have to accept them, but some back and forth about the ideas is always appreciated.

This wasn't the case here. Instead, her response was, more or less, "I was afraid you'd react  this way but if thinking  you have something called fibromyalgia makes you feel better, that's ok." Well, I'm very glad she's ok with it. I'm sure I'll sleep better now. :)

I have no intention of engaging with the email writer any further. Perhaps I shouldn't have responded in the first place. I find it interesting that some people - because I know this person isn't alone - feel so strongly about proving that FM isn't real. What is it about the issue that makes them feel this need to evangelize their thoughts about FM?

Living with fibromyalgia

In case you haven't guessed by now, I do have fibromyalgia. I have had it a very long time, but was only diagnosed a little over a year ago. While the diagnosis hasn't changed how I feel physically, because there are no treatments, it has changed how I feel mentally and emotionally. Even though I knew the pain and fatigue was real, now I really know it. I am one of millions of people who have a similar problem. I am not alone. This isn't in my head. I wasn't a hypochondriac all this time. I wasn't looking for attention.

Managing FM means trying to live a healthy lifestyle and I am working on that. I'm trying to exercise despite the pain. I began a Tai Chi course a few weeks ago. My body is not liking it, but I'm sticking it out for the next few weeks. I need to get moving and get my life back.

Because I'm a writer, I've been able to do research and speak to experts on FM for articles I have worked on. I have a lot of information that I haven't yet used, so I am working on something that involves the questions people have about FM.

If you have FM or love someone who does, what questions do you wish had been answered earlier or what questions do you have now that still haven't been answered?

If you leave your questions here, in the comment section, I will be sure to add them to my file.



By the way, earlier this year, I began to participate in a chronic pain/fibromyalgia program offered by a local rehab centre (Fibromyalgia Rehab Program - It's Worth a Try). Unfortunately, it was a bust. Although the people who are part of the program mean well, as far as I was concerned, it was a waste of time and I dropped out after three weeks. So did just about everyone else in the program (there were five of us who started).

For the most part, we sat in a group and listened to the appropriate therapists talk about various issues, sleep, chronic pain, adaptations, etc., but it was all so very basic. There were no questions asked about what we may already have known, so the information wasn't tailored at all. It was just assumed that we knew absolutely nothing, but that wasn't true. The therapists just read from the handouts we received. Although we were encouraged to ask questions, we didn't really have any, because - again - it was all stuff we already knew.

We were only in the gym once a week, for about an hour or so, where the physio gave us a simple program to follow. While this would have been helpful, once a week is not.

So, the intent of the program was good, but as far as I am concerned, I can't see it being very helpful. It needs to be thought out better and presented in a more user-friendly manner.

It happened again: Fire deaths preventable had there been a smoke detector

It happens every year, several times a year, but people still don't get the message. Smoke detectors aren't an extra doodad for your home - they are a vital part of your safety. Yet, hundreds of people die in fires when they would likely have lived had they had a functioning smoke detector in their home.

It happened again this week in Montreal, Canada. A kitchen fire, not that big but very smoky, took the life of a father and his three year old son. The boy's mother was clinging to life, but the news just reported that she died this morning. The sad part? When firefighters arrived on the scene, they couldn't get the front door open - something was blocking it. It was the bodies of the three people inside. They made it to the front door, but couldn't open it.

Deaths send another tragic message


Senseless deaths that could have, and should have, been avoided. They died from smoke inhalation, not the fire.

According to the local news, as always after a situation like this, local firefighters and students went door-to-door to check on neighbouring homes and whether they had functioning smoke detectors. Not surprisingly, many did not. Some had detectors but no batteries. One family had something taped over the beeper so it wasn't so loud. The firefighter who saw that one said that the alarm would not have been loud enough to wake someone from a sound sleep.

The United States Fire Administration reports that there were 356,200 fires in the U.S. in 2009; 2,480 people died and 12,600 were injured. Not all deaths and injuries were due to smoke inhalation, but they do count high in the numbers.


FireSafety.gov has good information on using smoke detectors, where they should be installed and how to maintain them. If you are a renter, check your rental agreements. In many places, the building owners are required by law to provide the detectors but the tenants are required to keep them in working order.

If your landlord won't provide you with a detector, this is not something you want to be without. Consider it an investment in your and your family's lives.