Pacing and Pain

I’ve been busy, again, hence no posts. Insanely busy, in fact, and I let something get away from me: Pain Management. I know, I’ve said plenty of times here and on my other blog that PM is a lifestyle, a way of living to allow you to live. But I had a whole host of mini-handbooks to write, some mini-supplements to write and edit, a players pack to finish,  playtesting, an inquest and its rather stressy fallout…

…all of which is not good for pain management.

You get the picture.  Basically I forgot two of the major tenets of PM: pacing and distraction. And probably exercise, too, if I’m honest, but that’s not been too bad.  As a result, extreme pain, opioids, sleepless nights, breakthrough pain, the bust scenario  – if you’re into PM, you’ll know it.

So I bought a book to remind me of it, to place on my desk in front of my eyes: The Pocket Book of Pacing by Hannah Ensor.

Hannah is the driver behind Stickman Communications, a small publisher who produces a load of really brilliant, light-hearted-but-deadly-serious disability communication material – books, posters, tags, labels: all sorts. I’ve used them before a variety of problems, one of which was using their pain translation leaflet with my doctor. This new book popped into my inbox at the right time, so I ordered it, and it came with a highly appropriate leaflet (above) which was an excellent PM translation but had information about Stickman on the back.

For a book on pacing, the pocket book is really good – for both those starting in PM (or forgetting to apply it, like me!) and for those who want to understand why PM practitioners have to do what they do. It explains the boom-bust cycle, the myths, the guilt, timing, a variety of techniques, the translation issues with ‘can’t’, self-forgiveness, and has plenty of tips. It’s well worth it as a reminder and a handy summary, in other words, or for loaning to those who might need to understand (it’s 95 4.5″×4.5″ pages, most written only on one side, though, and with plenty of illustrations).

Of course, it can’t cover everything in detail – but has a really great shot at hinting at everything. Critically, it’s honest, practical and straightforward – no silly ‘everything will be alright’. It’s worth getting (£5.50) for the various uses it can be put to – from a beginners tips guide to, well, a visible reminder!