The Chronic Pain
Connector
(A Biennial newsletter for families of children, adolescents
and young adults living with chronic pain)
Volume 1, No. 02/13
Fall 2013
Bi-Annual Newsletter
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Welcome to the second edition of The Chronic Pain Connector. Thanks for being interested in what we
have to say. To those of you that provided feedback and your endorsement comments, Thank you!
Keep sending us your suggestions and feedback: office@theilcfoundation.org
Table of Contents
1. Events
2. E-Connect with Us
3. In the World of Chronic Pain News
4. Research
5. ILC in the News
6. Community Events
7. In Remembrance
ILC PEER SUPPORT CHAPTER EVENT:
Families joined ILC Peer Support Event on Saturday, May 25th from 1:00 to 4:30 pm. – A full
schedule for Parent-to-Parent, Tweens'n Teens+, and finishing off the afternoon with a consult
visit with Digisplint Inc. http://www.digisplint.ca/
An inspiring afternoon of camaraderie and sharing. Location: On the water’s edge at the foot of
Navy Street in the Oakville Museum (main floor meeting rooms and gardens), 8 Navy St,
Oakville, ON, L6J 2Y5.
Tanya Foyle hosts fundraising for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS):
• Third party fundraiser for Oakville family living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Saturday,
Sept. 14, Shakers Tap and Grill from 1 pm to 1 am, including Mike Holmes and his crew, Mike
Shotton, Gord Depp from the Spoons, Holly Cole, Platinum Blonde with fantastic help from
Oakville’s own AUDIOMAN and more. The ILC was thrilled to be included as part recipient of funds
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raised in this event with a donation of just under $2,000.00. Funds will be used to support the ILC’s
Halton and Peel Chapter Peer Support activities. A heartfelt Thank you to Tanya and all the
volunteers she rallied for an amazing event!
Peer Support
• ILC Halton Region and Friends Family Peer Support event, Saturday, Sept. 21st. – A group of teens
and young adults and their parents connecting on the importance of reaching out to not feel alone in a
comfortable setting after adjusting to the first two weeks of school. Families wishing to participate in
the Halton/Peel location events, email office@theilcfoundation.org. Stay tuned for other locations and
exciting news about interactive therapies during peer support.
A Taste of Mindfulness Charity Lecture: Oakville
• Thank you to Robyn at Creating Space Yoga Studio and Dr. Stephane Treyvaud and the attendees of A
Taste of Mindfulness Charitable Lecture for the wonderful support of ILC’s charitable programs with
the donation of $1,560.00 on September 28th. For more information about other events like this and
programs offered, visit: www.mindful.ca.
Christopher’s Challenge and a Mom with heart – Niagara Falls
Let's help Christopher Raise Awareness about EDS! So that more is learned about this disease, donate
to support the ILC Research initiative at www.theilcfoundation.org. Thank you!
https://www.facebook.com/ChristophersChallengeWithEhlersDanlos?ref=stream&hc_location=timeline
Christopher's Challenge with Ehlers-Danlos
After many many months, Christopher has been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos!! We are hoping to
make this syndrome aware!!
Scientific Workshop – October 4th and 5th in Oakville:
• The ILC Foundation hosted a scientific workshop as a discussion for leaders to Bridge Gaps: Expert
Leadership and Vision to Establish Best Care Practice Guidelines for a broad group of complex
chronic pain diseases - Where Quality of Life Meets The Art and Science of Medicine.
The ILC organized and presented the Difficult to Diagnose Disease Program (DDD Program) as a
method to bridging gaps in best practices. Based on the experience in providing peer support to a wide
population that suffers tremendously with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), the DDD Program initially
is focused on this connective tissue disorder. Twenty-six multidisciplinary medical and allied health
professionals attended from Halton, Hamilton, London, the GTA, Quebec and the United States to
begin the process. Stay tuned for a full report on outcomes.
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Thank you! Erika Crawford & Family Pay It Forward with Rosehill Liquidation – October 12th
in Brantford County:
Third party awareness and fundraising event – Saturday, November 2nd in Oakville:
• Oakville’s Largest Rock’n Roll Party celebrates its 10th year of third party fundraising, supporting
three families in the Halton Region living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome with high costs to healthcare;
and the ILC.
National Pain Awareness Week 2013 – Leading up to and during November 2nd – 9th
October 28th – The ILC present A Unique Perspective of Chronic Pain to Halton Health
Sciences nursing staff on chronic pain in children, adolescents and young adults.
You can find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-ILCFoundation-Improving-the-Life-of-Children/101439486612478?fref=ts or email us
at info@theilcfoundation.org or (416) 822-3494.
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Please share you success stories here. Whether you are a physician, researcher, individual
coping with pain, help raise hope to know that better care can and will happen. Email us at
info@theilcfoundation.org. Thank you!
Pediatric pain
Canada is a leader in pain research. So why are kids
suffering? http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/30/this-wont-hurt-a-bit/
by Elizabeth MacCallum on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Michelle Del Guercio/Science Source
Pippa is a big girl now, almost 4, so she’s very good on the swing. “Higher! Higher!” she squealed and James
McKee, her father, obliged with delight. Then it happened. The nightmare. Pippa sailed through the air like a bird
and crash-landed with her right leg underneath her. To avoid hours in the notoriously slow waiting room at the
Hospital for Sick Children’s emergency ward in Toronto, McGee and his wife, Amy Nugent, took Pippa to a
general hospital nearby. Waiting there more than five hours for an ambulance—because children with serious
broken bones in Toronto go to Sick Kids—Pippa would doze off briefly, only to wake screaming. No one was
around at the ER desk who could respond to McKee’s pleas for more appropriate medication for his daughter. When
the family arrived at Sick Kids, Pippa was immediately made comfortable with the completely necessary
pharmacological brew, as she waited until orthopaedic surgeons pinned the fracture in her femur later that day in the
operating room.
Pippa was actually extremely lucky. She ended up in one of the best pediatric pain centres in the world. Canada has
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only seven hospitals with children’s-pain departments to serve the entire country; Manitoba, P.E.I., Newfoundland
and the North have none. Despite the fact that this country is one of the world leaders in pediatric pain research,
many children in Canada do not live within access of proper pain care. The groundbreaking pediatric pain
management program at the renowned IWK Health Centre in Halifax flourishes, its brilliant research included. But
if you live in Cape Breton and have a child with chronic pain—regular pain that continues for months and often
years—every appointment can mean a long drive to the hospital, overnight stays, time off work and missed school
days. These hospital-based clinics provide complete interdisciplinary care at no cost to the family. If the child sees
local physio- or massage therapistsoutside a hospital setting instead, each professional must be paid directly, unless
the family has a plan through work. That usually covers only a few appointments, nothing like the costs of regular
visits for the long haul. Most families are shocked to discover just how inadequate pain care for children can be.
For almost a century, as professional doctors took over from midwives and female family members in the birthing
business, a myth was born that newborns and premature babies don’t feel or remember pain. In the early 1980s, the
anaesthesiologist for a premature infant, Jeffrey Lawson, didn’t believe he would feel any pain during open-heart
surgery. She provided no pain relief during surgery, just Pavulon, a drug that left him unable to move, but totally
conscious. The only good news in this horror story that ended with Jeffrey’s death a few weeks later is that his
mother, Jill Lawson, went on a public rampage when she learned the facts of the surgery, and went so far as to get
her story published in the medical journal Birth in 1986. The anaesthesiologist “seemed sincerely puzzled as to why
I was concerned,” Lawson wrote. A neonatologist explained to her that “babies, unlike adults, don’t go into shock
no matter how much agony they suffer.” Lawson argued in her article that anaesthesiologists took advantage of this,
coupled with the patient’s inability to complain. “I’m convinced that Jeffrey was paralyzed for the convenience of
the surgeon. Once paralyzed, he couldn’t distress the operating team by demonstrating his pain, so they didn’t give
it any further thought.” Her story shocked families and professionals alike and significantly vitalized the current
wave of research on pain in babies and children.
The most delicate premature babies endure up to 10 painful procedures a day, often while lying constrained in their
incubators. Ruth Grunau, a professor of neonatology at the University of British Columbia, has found that the more
painful procedures a child endures, the more brain-development and behaviour problems it suffers. Babies soon
behave like adults who have chronic pain, and develop an infant form of depression. The problem is that regular
opioids can be damaging to infants, and topical anaesthetics don’t always work.
Fortunately, not all solutions involve medication. Celeste Johnston, a nurse specializing in neonatal pain at IWK and
a professor emeritus at McGill University, studies “kangaroo care,” a tactic that had mothers keep their premature
babies snuggled against them, skin to skin. The strategy was first developed in the ’70s in Colombia, which had a
shortage of incubators. Even with children born at as little as 32 weeks’ gestation, mortality rates fell. Johnston’s
research showed that premature and term infants held skin to skin, much like a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch,
show significantly less pain throughout tests and injections. Johnston and her colleagues are currently assessing 16
studies from around the world for theCochrane Review, the respected medical research journal, proving the benefits
of kangaroo care.
Johnston doesn’t forget fathers’ contributions to pain relief, either. In an interview, she describes watching a film
clip of a father never breaking eye contact with his little boy, who was in the process of being anaesthetized. He
regaled his son with stories about their dog and what would happen if it were let loose in the hospital. The child
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went under happy and relaxed.
Dr. Christine Chambers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in pain and child health and is a professor of
pediatrics and psychology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was part of a group that generated clinical guidelines
for parental behaviour when children experience mild discomfort or severe pain. Despite the instinctive tendency to
empathize in rising vocal tones, her research shows that this actually makes the child feel worse. Chambers and her
colleagues teach parents to distract a child, even during regular vaccinations. What affects the child’s attitude to
future medical procedures isn’t so much the degree of pain a child reports feeling at the time, as it is his memory of
the event. If the parents are positive and confident—without actually lying—the child will be less fearful and have
less pain.
Nurse Cathy Lewis in Calgary has learned all about the power of distraction on the job. For one or two days a week,
she gives vaccinations. Distressed by the unhappiness generated by this straightforward public health work, she
thought back to a film about distraction techniques and clowning. Now, with her invisible magic gloves and her
captivating routine, kids often don’t realize they have just had a shot—or even two. She’s proud when four-monthold babies laugh after inoculations.
At a surprisingly young age, children can help themselves, too. Celeste Johnson tells the horrifying story of a fouryear-old girl who reported everything that had gone on in a procedure when she was so deeply sedated, staff thought
she was unconscious. Because of this experience, the little girl hated everything about hospitals. Eventually, she
came up with her own way of calming herself down. She worked out that her very own purple boots gave her magic
protection. If she wore them to the hospital and kept them on always, she could be invincible. That was the end of
hysterical, tearful arrivals. All it took was her imagination and understanding medical staff.
More concrete solutions will take some political will, and financial resources. In an interview, Dr. MaryLynch,
president of the Canadian Pain Society, lamented the fact that only two per cent of children with chronic pain in
Canada get the care they need, and argued that will never improve without a national strategy. “There is a perfect
parallel in the Canadian strategy for cancer control, based on a 2006 paper that summarized a five-year plan,
substantially financed by the government.”
Chronic pain costs Canada $60 billion every year, she says. Those resources can be better deployed. Last spring,
Lynch, along with other experts from the Canadian Pain Coalition, blitzed Parliament Hill during the first national
pain summit. Rather than emerging with a national plan, they failed to have even one conversation with a
Conservative politician. “This federal government has no interest at all in national strategies,” said Lynch. “They
could call a task force to put [one in]. That’s what we asked for at the summit. We have a blueprint and would be
happy to help them.”
As Lynch sees it, pain is about much more than dollars. “If children don’t receive appropriate care, they miss out on
formative years, and pain can wreck their entire lives. That has a major cost to the child, their family and our whole
of society.” Any child can tell you: pain really hurts.
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In response to the following article below here “Doctors warned to look out for parentfabricated illness in kids” based on our experience with three families over our pilot year of
providing support – “The ILC Foundation recognizes the need to protect children from the abuse
at the hands of parents causing a parent-fabricated illness. However, we are also acutely aware
of the tragedies inflicted to parents, whose children suffer from a difficult-to-diagnose chronic
pain illness such as connective tissue disorder Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) or Reflex
Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), who are being falsely accused of child abuse when they seek
help, and then suffer the consequence of having their children removed from their care. We
therefore believe that it is imperative to raise awareness of this most difficult of differential
diagnoses between parent-fabricated and difficult-to-diagnose illness, and develop rigorous
guidelines for best practices in first distinguishing the two conditions and then appropriately
treat and care for the patients involved.”
Doctors warned to look out for parent-fabricated illness in kids http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/doctors-warned-to-look-out-for-parent-fabricated-illness-in-kids1.1426730Sheryl Ubelacker, The Canadian Press Published Monday, August 26, 2013
TORONTO -- Doctors need to be alert for signs of a form of abuse in which a parent fabricates
illness in a child and exposes them to unnecessary and potentially harmful tests and treatments,
says the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Because it is relatively rare, caregiver-fabricated illness in a child is often unrecognized by
health professionals, said Dr. Harriet MacMillan, who co-authored a report on the subject for the
AAP, which appears in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics.
"In the child, it's a form of maltreatment; in the person who is committing it, it is considered a
psychiatric disorder," said MacMillan, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at McMaster
University's Children's Hospital.
Dr. Harriet MacMillan, pediatrician and psychiatrist at McMaster University is shown in this
undated handout photo. Doctors need to be alert for signs of a form of abuse in which a parent
fabricates illness in a child and exposes them to unnecessary and potentially harmful tests and
treatments, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO) "One
example would be where a parent is reporting that the child has certain symptoms that the child
doesn't have," she said from Hamilton. "The parent will say, 'My child has terrible abdominal
pain.' So it begins with a set of X-rays, then other (diagnostic) procedures or potentially even
exploratory surgery." MacMillan and other members of the AAP's Committee on Child Abuse
and Neglect said caregiver-fabricated illness in a child has been known since the 1980s as
Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The latest volume of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
mental disorders, the bible of psychiatric diagnoses, calls it "factitious disorder imposed on
another." The syndrome name derives from Baron von Munchausen, an 18th-century German
aristocrat who purportedly told many fantastic stories about himself. In the early 1950s, people
who fabricated disease symptoms that led to self-harm were described as having Munchausen's
syndrome. Inventing symptoms in others came to be known as Munchausen's by proxy. "It's
been referred to with different names and our committee felt it was important to refer to it as
caregiver-fabricated illness in a child because it really puts the emphasis on the child, as with
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other types of maltreatment," MacMillan said. Caregiver-contrived illness is relatively rare -- it's
estimated to occur in 0.5 to two per 100,000 children -- but its effects can be severe. An
estimated six to nine per cent of children exposed to this form of abuse end up dying as a result,
and about the same proportion are left with long-term disability or permanent injury. "When
health-care providers are seeing children with illnesses that are not explained and result in
multiple medical procedures, they need to be alert to this possibility," said MacMillan,
cautioning that there is no typical presentation. A child might show up with anything from
bleeding or seizures to a urinary tract infection or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the
authors say. MacMillan, who is part of a health-care team dealing with family violence and
interventions aimed at preventing child abuse or neglect, said made-up symptoms can be
physical or psychological. Over the years, she's seen cases of psychiatric symptoms being
fabricated by a parent, "anything from 'My child is behaving in a way that makes me question
autism' to 'My child keeps trying to hurt herself."' Children can end up being prescribed
unnecessary drugs -- antidepressants, even antipsychotics -- as a result, she said. Dr. Marc
Feldman, a psychiatrist at the University of Alabama and an internationally recognized expert in
Munchausen's and other forms of medical deception, said parents behind this kind of abuse are
typically seeking emotional gratification, but at the cost of the child's well-being. "And usually
that comes in the form of seeking attention and sympathy," he said from Tuscaloosa, Ala. "So
they present themselves as the caregivers of terribly ill children, whose illnesses are defying
diagnosis. And predictably, they get a lot of care and concern from immediate family as well as
the community." Feldman, author of "Playing Sick," said many of these parents are dissatisfied
with how their own lives have turned out and feel out of control. Successfully manipulating the
beliefs of "high-status professionals like doctors allows them to feel once again in control."
One of the most common means of "proving" their assertions to health providers is to cause their
child to stop breathing. "I actually have videotapes of several perpetrators, male and female,
suffocating the child when they think they're not being observed," he said. "In one case, the
father literally positions his entire body over the infant's head with the infant's face pressed into
the mattress and he stays in that position for 70 seconds, and then gets up when a nurse enters
the room and the child is unconscious but alive." While babies and toddlers are often the
victims, older children and even caregiver-dependent disabled adults can also be the subjects of
sham symptoms, Feldman said. One paper in the medical literature suggests older siblings may
also have been previous targets, and in about 25 per cent of cases, those children died as a result.
"It may be more lethal than just about any other form of abuse," said Feldman, noting that
children can become Munchausen's patients themselves as adults or end up avoiding medically
necessary treatment due to post-traumatic stress disorder. "They want nothing to do with
anything that reminds them about the victimization they experienced earlier in life."
MacMillan said doctors who are suspicious about the credibility of purported symptoms need to
conduct a careful medical history and physical examination, and speak to health providers in
other settings to see if they have previously seen the child for similar complaints.
"My aim is not, nor is it of the committee, to suggest that this is a really common problem. It's
not at all," she said. "Nonetheless, as with any condition that is so associated with impairment
for a child, we think it's important for health-care providers to know about it."
Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/doctors-warned-to-look-out-for-parent-fabricatedillness-in-kids-1.1426730#ixzz2hkLaZMVW
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Sarah-Jill does an amazing job of explaining why so many families travel to the United States for care in
her video that expresses the beautiful essence of who she is...ILC is excited to be facilitating the
education to bring this expertise to Canada through its Difficult to Diagnose Disease Program. Enjoy and
please be inspired...
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sarah-s-race-to-lose-the-neck-brace-fighting-ehlers-danlos-syndrome
Sarah's Race to Lose the Neck Brace - Fighting Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
www.indiegogo.com.
www.endthehurts.com is a positive place to visit and connect in a way that will inspire!
21-Day+ Rehabilitation Program
Burlington, Ontario - October 1, 2011: The ILC hosted a Workshop that was attended by
Canada’s leading chronic pain experts to organize and medically vet a 21-Day+ Rehabilitation
Program. While McMaster Children’s Hospital has committed interest to the Pilot the Program,
funding for this clinical research opportunity has not been secured yet.
The ILC’s long term strategic plan involves a community based integrated approach to health
care for this at risk population. We believe that an in-house day 21-Day+ Rehabilitation
Program can bridge gaps in education and awareness through program delivery by medical
students conducting grand rounds to learn the invisibilities of chronic pain. We also have
learned that the greatest impact of learning can be realized when Deans and Professors write
questions in to exams to weight the importance of what is being taught in the lecture hall and the
clinical setting and that this can prove a great outcome to bridging gaps in the understanding of
chronic pain illness for future front line care providers.
The ILC is continuously building its funding capacity to meet these targets and hopes that cofunding grants will enable participation participation at the medical level.
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The ILC Difficult to Diagnose Disease Program Scientific Workshop
Signature Sponsor: The Hawkins Family
The ILC facilitated and funded a scientific workshop on October 4th and 5th, 2013 as a
collaborative among leading international experts to set the parameters for the DDD Program.
The outcome of this initiative will be of international significance to how health care is provided
to an at risk population that continuously fall between the cracks of care and those that represent
the 1% of high cost to health care utilizing 50% of health care budgets with frequent hospital
visits and specialist appointments.
Endorsements:
The role of the ILC foundation as a link between the patient, families, policy makers and the
health care team is crucial in the development of the process. Dr. Juan Camilo Guzman, M.D.
MSc, FRCPC, General Internal Medicine, Syncope and Autonomic Disorders, Health Research
Methodology
The program [ILC Difficult to Diagnose Disease Program] and the scheduled speakers for the
Scientific Workshop are outstanding and I would dearly love to take part because the topics are
ones that rarely make their way onto scientific programs. Peter Vadas MD PhD FRCPC,
Director, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, St. Michael's Hospital.
McMaster Children’s Hospital
McMaster Children's Hospital is part of Hamilton Health Sciences' family of hospitals. It is also
home to the McMaster Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI) led by McMaster Children's
Hospital and McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences in conjunction with many key
research partners.
McMaster Children's Hospital recognizes that children's health needs are unique and that the
development of optimum health in childhood can prevent other conditions of poor health later in
life.
MacKids Award of Excellence: On Monday, August 19th, the ILC Foundation (“ILC”)
presented pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Benedicto Baronia, the ILC Foundation Award of
Excellence in Care for his compassion, dedication and care of young people living with
challenging symptoms of complex chronic pain diseases that are difficult to diagnose, treat and
care for. “Dr. Baronia is the kind of doctor that every child should meet when suffering with
chronic pain.” His approach is one of gentle kindness where his patients have reported him
saying, “If I had a crystal ball, it would not be able to tell me the many things that are wrong,
but I promise that I won’t let you go until we figure things out to make things at least better.”
The ILC is presenting this award to Dr. Baronia, prior to his leaving McMaster Children’s
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Hospital, to mark his valued contribution to the ILC families that live with complex chronic pain
and specifically those with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) where he tirelessly worked to figure
things out. His participation in the ILC’s integrated peer support network enabled
collaborations with a neurosurgeon in the United States that has developed expertise in this
connective tissue disorder. Based on the collaboration, Dr. Baronia was able to learn about the
clinical presentations of tethered cord in two of his EDS patients, where he subsequently
performed surgery to release the tethered cord, alleviating the chronic leg and foot pain one of
his patients experienced for eight years. The ILC are sad to know that Dr. Baronia will be
leaving McMaster as he has accepted a position at a medical center in the United States. There
gain will be our loss. Sandy Smeenk
IWK Health Centre – Halifax serving Maritime provinces
The Pediatric Complex Pain Clinic treats out-patients with chronic pain. Assessments and
treatment are provided by a team including physicians, a clinical nurse specialist, a clinical
psychologist, and a physiotherapist. Treatment often includes a combination of physical
treatment and exercise, cognitive-behavioural techniques such as relaxation and imagery, and
medications. The child and family are important members of the pain management team.
http://www.iwk.nshealth.ca/index.cfm?objectid=33B8F57E-F392-0A53-2BE6D0DC26AE3740
Dr. Allen Finley is one of ILC's medical advisory board members who leads in the area of clinical
research, treatment and care of childhood and teenage chronic pain illness.
http://www.maydayfellows.org/fellowsfinleypro.html
SUCCESS STORIES - DR. ALLEN FINLEY, M.D.
Finding his Voice
Only a few times since he met Caitlyn, has Dr. Allen Finley shared her story. His friends know about
her, and a few colleagues. But his lectures, keynote speeches, conversations with peers, residents and
even with patients, often lack any mention of her. He rarely tells the story about the four year-old
cancer patient who changed his life early on in his career. Caitlyn taught Finley about pain. He wasn't
even considering pediatric pain as a field of focus in his residency, but watching this little girl suffer,
without much support from the medical system, and ultimately die, made him realize something must
change. When he tells the story, you can feel his passion for helping children, and you begin to
understand the dire need to better treat children's pain.
Even in his public role of a pediatric pain advocate, Finley doesn't focus on Caitlyn; instead, he speaks
as many experts do in the language of research and academia.
His first attempt to write an opinion editorial at home in Canada for his local paper on children's pain
was muddled. In his words, the piece was written "in an academic style, using phrases that were
factual, but cautious, non-emotional and fairly flat."
His natural instinct to talk like an academic carried over into the Mayday Pain & Society Fellowship
workshop in 2005. Interview after interview lacked life, energy and passion. Finally, at a coffee break
at the workshop, one trainer cornered him. "Tell me, Allen, why do you do what you do?" The story of
Caitlyn came to life in Finley's words. "That's it!" the trainer said. "You've found your voice." Finley
came to realize the power of telling stories; how the children in the stories made the problem real.
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Finley rewrote his op-ed, and the lead was his experience treating Caitlyn.
Instead of running in his local paper, Finley's op-ed appeared in the leading nationalnewspaper in
Canada, The Globe & Mail.
And as is common, his op-ed led to an opportunity for further exposure, in this case a phone call from
the producers of a national radio program of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) asking
Finley to do an in-depth interview about pediatric pain. It would feature real patients to bring the
story to life. Reaching millions of homes, the program is a great forum to raise awareness about
children and pain.
Finley is now sharing not only his expertise about pediatric pain, but his powerful message and voice.
From his op-ed: "Imagine being the parent of a child with cancer who won't even let you hug her
because it hurts too much. Imagine being a teenager with chronic pain who nobody believes. Imagine
being too young to find the words to say when it hurts."
G. Allen Finley, M.D., 2005/06 Mayday Fellow, is professor of anesthesia and psychology at Dalhousie
University, medical director of pediatric pain management at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, and
president of the International Association for the Study of Pain Special Interest Group on Pain in
Childhood.
Alberta Children's Hospital foundation receives $15 million
donation to create the Vi Riddell Children's Pain and Rehabilitation
Centre – Click to read full story http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/03/04/alberta-childrenshospital-foundation-receives-15-million-donation-to-create-the-vi-riddell-childrens-pain-andrehabilitation-centre
Alberta Health Services – Alberta’s Children’s Hospital
The Paediatric and Adolescent Complex Pain Service treats children aged 0 - 17 who experience
chronic, complex, or difficult to manage pain.
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/services.asp?pid=service&rid=1008795
Alberta Health Services – Stollery Children’s Hospital, Edmonton
Meets the needs of children and adolescents with chronic pain and their families in an environment that integrates
excellence in the delivery of care, education and research. Treats and cares for children 17 years and under who are
experiencing chronic, difficult to manage pain.
http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/services.asp?pid=saf&rid=1074335
Montreal Children’s Hospital
Evaluates and treats chronic pain in children in a multidisciplinary way. The core team comprises a physician, psychologist,
physiotherapist and clinical nurse specialist. Medical and surgical specialists and members of Social Services are consulted
when needed. http://www.thechildren.com/en/departments/index.aspx?myPro=B
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Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario – Ottawa
CHEO also provides a Chronic Pain Service (CPS) for patients in hospital and outpatients. For outpatients, clinic visits are
intended to identify, treat and follow up children with long-standing or complex pain. http://www.cheo.on.ca/en/chronic-painservice
The Hospital for Sick Children – Toronto
The Chronic Pain Program at The Hospital for Sick Children is a specialized clinical service for
children and adolescents with chronic pain.
http://www.sickkids.ca/Anaesthesia/Chronic%20Pain%20Program/Chronic%20Pain%20Progra
m.html
Jun 26, 2013 |
Nelson teacher awarded for supportive efforts
ngel
Hannah Yoon/Metroland Media Group pain and fatigue.
Burlington Post
ByIan Holroyd
To some, she is not just a special education resource teacher; she’s a guardian angel.
Nelson High School’s Wendy Malloch is known for going above and beyond for her students,
particularly Emma Steckner, 16, who suffers from a rare illness, which causes her chronic pain and
fatigue.
“I don’t think I’d be able to be (in school) without the support that she gives,” said Steckner, who
was not feeling well when she spoke to the Post, her voice weak over the phone. “She’s really nice.
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She’s just lovely.”
On June 19, Malloch was presented with the ILC (Improving the Life of Children) Foundation’s
2013 Award of Excellence in recognition of her efforts to enable students like Steckner to attend
school, achieve in her courses and succeed overall.
Mary Steckner, Emma’s mom, said knowing that Malloch is at the school with her daughter is
reassuring.
“It’s been wonderful for Emma to have somebody that she can go to for any support and for me to
know that Emma’s got the support that she needs and there’s somebody who really takes the time
to listen and be creative about solutions,” she said.
According to Mary, her daughter began displaying symptoms around four years ago. It took doctors
three years to come up with an explanation.
Steckner was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a connective tissue (skin, joints,
blood vessel walls) disorder that causes her severe chronic pain and fatigue. She also has a
condition related to EDS calledDysautonomia, which means her body struggles to regulate basic
body functions, such as blood pressure, heart rate, digestion and body temperature.
Her illness has made it difficult for Steckner, currently in Grade 11, to attend school on a regular
basis.
In order to accommodate her student, Malloch has been known to go to Steckner’s home for oneon-one instruction as well as collaborate with the teen online. She has been credited with
advocating for Steckner within the school and liaising for her with her teachers.
Malloch, 45, who has been teaching for 15 years, five years in special ed., said she is a little
embarrassed by the public acknowledgment she has received from the award.
“You’re always doing your best for students but it’s really nice to sometimes get that formal
recognition especially because I am in special education, so much of what you do is kind of behind
the scenes and underwater,” she said.
“Every kid is a bit of a puzzle and they tend to end up in special education because the regular
system doesn’t work for them for one reason or another. Figuring out the ways to make it work for
them, I love that matchingpieces to the puzzle side of it,” Malloch continued.
“I love that creative, outside the box, trying until you find something that really works and being
able to work with the actual student.”
When Steckner is well enough to attend classes, her unique needs have also been met by Nelson
High School, which has taken steps to make her pain more manageable.
Mary said the school has provided her daughter with a quiet place to retreat to when she needs to
rest, allowing Emma to remain in school longer and has provided her with more comfortable
seating, which allows her to stay in class for the duration of her lessons.
Sandy Smeenk, Executive Director of the ILC Foundation, said Malloch’s contribution to Steckner’s
education is worthy of the organizations first ever excellence award.
“We’ve had more cases that went the other way, where there was no support,” said Smeenk.
“When we learned about Emma and the tremendous support that she received, it struck a chord
and it needed to be recognized and honoured because Wendy went way above the call of duty and
the school supported her in doing that and so did the school board.”
The ILC Foundation’s mission is to raise awareness about children with chronic pain as well as
advocate for them and offer peer support. The organization is currently working towards funding
clinical research to develop best care practices.
Smeenk said the foundation is hoping to continue the awards next year but expand it to recognize
numerous individuals and schools that show exemplary support to students with chronic pain.
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Aug 21, 2013 | http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/4041734-ilc-tries-to-fill-the-gap-in-youth-chronic-pain-cases/
ILC tries to fill the gap in youth chronic pain cases
Submitted photo Mills with Amber, a participant in ILC’s peer support network.
SIDEBAR
ByJohn Bkila
Diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in 2009, Oakville’s Brooklyn Mills became the inspiration
behind the ILC Foundation — nearly three years later, the organization has made it its mission to help
children across Canada suffering from all chronic pain disorders.
The driving force behind Improve the Life of Children (ILC) is the need to help the little ones and
adolescents, and their families, with chronic pain diseases who fall through the cracks when it comes to
getting the treatment they so desperately need.
In the last two years, Brooklyn, 20, has had 16 surgeries, most of them dealing with her spine, neck and
brain. She has a shunt that drains built up spinal fluid and is also on blood thinners after developing a
blood clotting disorder as a result of the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
EDS is a rare condition that is difficult to diagnose, treat and care for. It affects only one in every 5,000
people and is marked by the inability of the collagen in the body to hold itself together.
“It’s been a process,” said Rebecca Mills, Brooklyn’s mother. “Every single time she’s been ill, they can’t
figure out what’s wrong with her in Ontario, so we’ve ended up having to travel to the U.S. and they’ve
always figured it out, in what needs to be done, and it’s always been successful.”
Rebecca notes part of the reason why this has been the case is because there are centres in the U.S.
specializing in EDS that simply don’t exist in Canada.
Rebecca is the co-founding director of the ILC Foundation, along with executive director and trustee
Sandy Smeenk, who says she co-founded the organization with Brooklyn’s mom after witnessing the
struggles of the Mills family and realizing they weren’t alone.
Medical bills adding up
In the last two years, the Mills have spent $150,000 on Brooklyn’s treatment in the U.S. and Rebecca
says they still have approximately another $150,000 they need to pay — the Mills have been twice
denied reimbursement for their daughter’s treatments by Ontario’s health system.
“The only thing we’ve received is $495 for a consultation with a surgeon in the U.S.,” said Rebecca.
In addition to a lack of local EDS centres, Rebecca attributes the gap in care to the fact that the condition
is not very well-known and there isn’t much information out there on it.
Lack of best-care practices
Smeenk echoes that, adding there is a lack of best-care practices in Canada with regards to dealing with
chronic pain diseases, like EDS.
“In the healthcare system, we rely on best-care practices. What we’ve learned is that these do not exist
for the diagnosis, treatment and care of a broad and inclusionary group (children and young adults) of
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chronic pain diseases and disorders,” she said.
When she had learned these best-care practices did not exist, Smeenk immersed herself in learning and
understanding why this was the case, and essentially went about doing it herself, through the ILC.
Smeenk says she came across the National Institute for Health Research’s undiagnosed disease
program in the U.S. and adapted the model to develop a new program called the Difficult to Diagnose
Disease (DDD) program.
She then presented her findings to the ILC Foundation’s medical advisory board chair, Norm Buckley,
who is also professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesia at the McMaster Children’s Hospital in
Hamilton.
“The DDD program is pretty much a step one to step 10 on how to create some best-care practices here,”
said Smeenk. “The plan is to have an adult and child specialist in each of the major medical disciplines
and have a multi-disciplinary group come together to learn from the experts through workshops.”
In addition, the ILC is funding and facilitating a scientific workshop Oct. 4-5 to set the parameters of how
the foundation will move forward with its DDD program.
Although Brooklyn and her EDS were the inspiration behind the ILC’s creation, the foundation deals with
several chronic pain conditions, including: gastro-intestinal issues, such as Crohn’s disease; neuropathic
pains caused after cancer treatment/care; multiple sclerosis (MS); arthritis; fibromyalgia; and helping
youths transition into adult care from the hospital system.
“There are peer support groups for the adult population, but not for teens and young adults. They just
don’t exist,” Smeenk said.
“ILC’s review has been that the healthcare system supports the child population with their parents very
well through the hospital. But when you hit adolescence and your young adult years, those peer support
groups aren’t there.”
ILC tries to fill the gap in that respect.
National aid
Since its inception, the ILC Foundation has assisted in more than 150 cases across Canada, such as:
• The case of Dominic Boivin, a Calgary teen who took his life after four years of struggling with constant,
and mysterious, body-wide pain. The ILC Dominic Boivin Fund was set up to raise awareness and funds
to help bridge the gaps of chronic pain and its associated mental health in children and youths through a
national peer support network
• A 10-year-old Caledon boy suffering from neuropathic pain after his cancer chemotherapy treatment.
The boy’s mother reached out to ILC, which provided resources to help increase social and physical
activities through sport programs, a special care package to raise his spirits and provided him with tickets
to a Toronto Rock lacrosse game, donated by the sports organization
• A 16-year-old Burlington teen who attempted suicide because of underdiagnosed chronic pain. The teen
and their family met with a geneticist at McMaster Hospital working with the ILC and its DDD program
and they discovered that other members in the family had confirmed diagnoses of EDS Joint
Hypermobility. The family has since connected with several other families experiencing similar situations
through ILC’s peer support network
Raising awareness
Smeenk says she has been trying to raise awareness of the problem of chronic pain in children, youths
and the young adult population at the Ministry of Health level.
“In January, the Ministry of Health called us into a meeting because they had heard about the ILC from
families who had written the health minister saying they had received better care from the ILC Foundation
than they had in 10 years in the healthcare system,” she said.
The nearly two-hour meeting was spent discussing the ILC and how the foundation is creating an
integrated peer support network in the Halton, Peel and Hamilton health sciences to help bridge the gaps
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in healthcare, Smeenk explained.
“The health minister’s office had told us they were working on a framework for chronic pain in adults, but
they had no idea that children in pain was such an issue — that was January 2013. That made me mad,”
she admits.
Thankfully, Smeenk says, the doctors on the ILC medical advisory board have told her change is coming.
The ILC has vetted and organized what will become Canada’s first 21-day pilot program for rehabilitation
for parents and children suffering from chronic pain through the McMaster Hospital.
The program will be designed so that medical school students can participate in its delivery and
familiarize themselves with the “invisibilities of chronic pain” conditions, explains Smeenk.
“Our goal is to solve the problem of pain. It’s the critical challenge of chronic pain in children and youth to
bridge the gaps,” she said. “And that’s what we’re going to do through the DDD — to fund the research
so that best-care practices can be developed and raise awareness at the Ministry of Health level.”
For more information on the ILC Foundation, visit www.ilcfoundation.org.
Aug 13, 2013
A prison of pain
Nikki Wesley / Metroland Media Group
Burlington teenager Megan Brown, 16, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a condition that causes her such extreme
sensitivity to touch, she said even a feather brushing against her foot feels like lava dripping onto her skin.
Burlington Post ByIan Holroyd http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/4030112-a-prison-of-pain/
The pain had gotten so bad Megan Brown wanted to end it all.
“You’re laying in bed and you’re touching the sheets and the sheets feel like they’re made of barbed
wire,” she explained, her voice wavering.
The 16-year-old suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a condition that causes her such
extreme sensitivity to touch, she said even a feather brushing against her foot feels like lava dripping onto
her skin.
According to the RSD Canada website, RSD is a debilitating disorder where the sympathetic nervous
system becomes overactive and may cause numerous symptoms including burning pain, swelling,
temperature change, skin colour change, diminished motor function and severe sweating. Symptoms
may vary with each individual.
Brown sat on the couch in her Burlington living room, a room in which she has spent most of her time
lately, she said.
Her right foot was swollen and purple and was propped up on a pillow on the floor. Her crutches, her
main mode of transportation these days, were set at her side.
“There was a moment for almost two or three weeks where I was ready to give up,” Brown said. “I was
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telling them, just cut it off, shoot me, do whatever, just make it stop.
“I sort of withdrew and went into a depression. It was bad,” she continued. “What made it worse is that I
knew I was hurting my mom because I was spending a lot time crying and telling her just kill me. I wasn’t
joking, I wanted to die.”
But then she got a call from the Burlington Humane Society and her outlook changed drastically. The
shelter said they had just found four week-old kittens at the side of the road and would Brown mind
fostering them?
“I thought maybe this is what I need,” she said. “So I said, ‘Yes.’ We went down, we picked them up and
they’ve been here ever since and, next to my parents and my sister, they’re my safety line.
“They are what I live for at the moment.”
As she bottle fed Baby Doll, the smallest of the kittens, Brown acknowledged the fact the kittens would
soon grow up and would have to go back to the shelter. “But they’re my kittens. They’re my babies,” she
said with a smile.
Before she was stricken with RSD, Brown hoped to pursue a career working with animals, possibly as a
veterinarian or a conservation officer.
“I was looking at becoming a conservation officer and that would require weeks of being out in the
wilderness, being able to run, being able to do all sorts of things,” she said.
“I’ve had to give up on a dream but I’ve got a new one and that’s what counts,” she added holding up one
of the squeaking felines.
Brown started feeling the symptoms of RSD three years ago. Her first indication anything was wrong was
the difference in temperature between her right and left foot.
“One was warm and the other would be freezing cold,” she said. “We just put it off as a circulation
problem.”
Then she started getting pains in her legs and her foot, which doctors wrote off as growing pains or
sprains.
However, in April the symptoms worsened. Brown had somehow injured her back and was resting at
home when she asked her sister Amy to get her a pair of socks because her feet were cold.
“She looked and said, ‘Your foot is completely blue,’” recalled Brown. “And it looked like I’d been out in
the snow for an hour.”
She said her mom, Barb Brown, rushed her to the hospital where doctors performed a battery of tests but
could not determine the cause of the discolouration. She was then referred to several specialists.
“All the doctors were saying basically the same thing, ‘There’s nothing wrong,’” she said. “I know there’s
something wrong, it hurts and it’s blue and it’s swollen and you’re telling me there’s nothing wrong. I had
one doctor say, ‘Maybe it’s all in your mind.’”
Eventually the Browns were referred to a specialist who was able to diagnose her with RSD. Despite the
diagnosis, the doctor said there was nothing they could do except pain management, Brown said.
Brown described RSD as an “invisible disease” because not many people know about it, including those
in the medical profession, making it difficult to diagnose.
Recently, the family met with Sandy Smeenk, the founder and executive director of Improving the Life of
Children (ILC) Foundation, which advocates for young people suffering from chronic pain illnesses and
promotes peer support.
“Because best practices in medicine do not exist for complex chronic pain, they continuously fall through
the cracks of care,” said Smeenk. “They are moved through the healthcare system specialist by specialist
with no answers and largely they suffer in silence at home.”
Smeenk said the ILC Foundation is helping Brown better navigate the healthcare system and is working
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to put the teen in touch with other young people going through similar circumstances.
“That will allow them to connect and not feel isolated and alone,” she said.
Brown’s mom, Barb was grateful to have been put in touch with the ILC Foundation because she said the
last few months have been “hell.”
“Moms are supposed to be able to make stuff better,” she explained. “To know I can’t do anything, it
hurts, and to see her in pain…”
Brown’s father, Barry, said he hoped his daughter telling her story would raise the profile of complex
chronic pain illnesses within the community.
He said, “The more people who are aware of it, maybe it will push people to perhaps look for it because
they’re more aware that there is this thing out there.”
AWARENESS AND EDUCATION ON EHLERS-DANLOS SYNDROME & CHRONIC PAIN:
Burlington’s Nelson High School grade 10 Civic's class students Sarah and Julie did an amazing job
presenting on the importance of peer support for children and teens living with chronic pain illness with
ILC's Ambassador of Hope Brooklyn, who spoke about living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and the need
for the special accommodations required to help teens attend school. Congratulations to Nelson High
School for showing leadership in the special accommodations you provide your student population!
Sep 20, 2013 |
Vote 0 0
Hamilton losing pediatric neurologist to Texas
BRITTANY
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Hamilton Spectator file photo
Brittany Crichton, pictured with her mother, Kim, suffers from Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which
Dr. Benedicto Baronia has treated.
ByJoanna Frketich
A Hamilton neurologist who was one of the only doctors in Canada to treat children with EhlersDanlos syndrome has gone to the United States. Dr. Benedicto (Ben) Baronia's last shift was
Sept. 15 at McMaster Children's Hospital, where he was one of three pediatric neurosurgeons.
He is leaving pediatrics altogether to go to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center to
treat adults.
"I have mixed feelings," Baronia said. "As soon as the letters went out, I had patients come to
the office on the same day. That's the most difficult part for me."
One of the main reasons he's leaving is because his wife, who is a foreign-trained doctor with no
ability to practice in Canada, was also offered a job doing medical research in Texas. Baronia is
from the Philippines and earned his medical degree in 1984 from the University of the East
Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Centre in Manila. He trained in pediatric neurosurgery in
both the U.S. and Canada.
"He's been providing a great service to the families of the region," said Dr. Peter Fitzgerald,
president of the children's hospital, who's recruiting a new pediatric neurosurgeon. "You're
always a bit surprised when people decide to move to another centre. It's unfortunate."
It's a major loss for patients with the rare and debilitating inherited disorder EDS which loosens
joints, weakens blood vessels and causes bruising. By chance, Baronia became one of the only
doctors to treat it in Canada when he agreed to take on a child with the syndrome who couldn't
find a neurologist.
"It was one patient after another," he said. "It's very controversial even among specialists. If
there is not enough literature, the evidence isn't going to be definitive."
The lack of research means most doctors won't treat the syndrome which has no cure. It's caused
by a variety of gene mutations that create problems with the material providing strength and
structure to skin, bone, blood vessels and internal organs called collagen. The abnormal collagen
leads to symptoms as severe as ruptured internal organs, abnormal heart valves and joints
popping out of place.
"I'm upset he's leaving because he's been a pillar of hope for these families," said Sandy Smeenk,
executive director of the Oakville-based ILC Foundation, which advocates for children and
young adults living withchronic pain. "Without him there, I don't know anyone else who will do
it." Baronia will [hopefully] be at the ILC's international scientific workshop on Oct. 4-5 in
Oakville to discuss how to create guidelines to treat people with complex chronic pain disease
like EDS. "It's very frustrating," said Kim Crichton whose 24-year-old daughter Brittany has the
disorder. "We've had such a horrible experience here."
The Crichtons have had to remortgage their Hamilton home to pay $150,000 for two surgeries in
the U.S. that have allowed Brittany to walk again, decreased her pain and other debilitating
symptoms. She has gone back to Mohawk College for medical business administration.
"It's a huge difference," said Brittany. "I have quality of life again."
jfrketich@thespec.com
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Susan Gamble – Sun Media October 4, 2013
When Erika Crawford desperately needed a complex operation that was perfected in the U.S.
and not covered by OHIP, the community rallied around her cause and raised $100,000 for the
bills her parents faced.
Now the Crawfords and Rose-Hill Liquidation are asking the community to help the family "pay
it forward" by contributing again to the efforts of the ILC Foundation, the charity that's helped
many of those, like Erika, suffering with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).
"I want people to see Erika and where she's at now because of what people did for her," says
Butch McCooey, Rose-Hill's manager.
The store held a barbecue-fundraiser last year and McCooey was astonished at the outpouring of
financial help.
"Last year when we had this event she was having surgery. Now she's dating one of our workers
and is planning to be here at the barbecue," McCooey said.
Life has changed for the teen since she was in a neck brace and a wheelchair last year.
The EDS and associated problems gave her dangerously low blood pressure and terrible
headaches. She often fainted and fell if she wasn't in a chair. Her joints were hyper-mobile and
her head was no longer sitting properly on her spine.
With her parents, Darren and Michelle Crawford, Erika saw numerous Canadian doctors who
were stymied by her symptoms.
It wasn't until ILC guided them to Maryland neurosurgeon Dr. Fraser Henderson that the family
finally got a diagnosis and surgery that may have saved the teen's life.
Henderson removed one of Erika's ribs, shaped it and placed it in her neck so it supports her
head.
But the teen still has major health issues.
She receives a weekly blood transfusion and the connective tissues in her neck are stretching
again.
"I may have to get more surgery but the doctor checked it out and I'm OK for now," Erika says.
Meanwhile, she's graduated from St. John's College and has moved on to Mohawk College
where she's taking biotechnology courses. Her dream job is to be able to help with EDS
research.
School-work, daily naps and hours of homework leave very little time for other activities but
Erika has an extremely important appointment this weekend.
The foundation that's been helping EDS kids and adults get assistance in the U.S. has
successfully set up a medical conference in Oakville to connect experts in EDS treatment with
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Canadian neurosurgeons, geneticists and pediatricians.
Erika's own doctor from Maryland will speak. Neurosurgeon Dr. Fraser Henderson has invented
11 devices and concepts relating to disorders of the brainstem and spinal cord.
On Saturday, Erika will stand before those doctors and tell her story.
"I'm kind of nervous, but at the same time I don't want anyone else to have to go through what I
did."
It's unusual for a non-profit to be hosting an event like this, but organizer Sandy Smeenk said
[“we are grateful to the team of specialists that are coming together to begin this important
process. Collectively, we are responding to the needs of the community we support and work
for.” The ILC is committed to funding this initiative because it's the single most important
factor to address when considering the challenges of chronic pain – when best practices do not
exist, families attending peer support groups will continue to get together to complain about
what is wrong with their health and the gaps in care at the medical level.
"We're trying to [raise awareness and bridge gaps in education that these diseases do exist]
identify the warning flags to help doctors zero in on the disease," Smeenk says. "[Identifying
that best practices do not exist for the diagnoses, treatment and care of a broad group of chronic
pain diseases is] It's an opportunity to tell a really important story, [and that the funding model in
medicine does not support an interdisciplinary care plan, which is needed for these complex
multi-body system conditions] and funding is needed."
Hear what a group of children and youth had to say about what it means to be supported by a peer support network
atwww.theilcfoundation.org and support the ILC Dominic Boivin Fund today.
http://www.theilcfoundation.org/
www.theilcfoundation.org
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In Remembrance:
Parents and teens reach out through the ILC to honour Dominic’s life to reduce feelings of
isolation and depression through a comprehensive peer support network!
The Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation provided a donation of $5,000.00 in support of the
ILC Foundation charitable programs and to honour the life of Dominic Boivin. A cheque
presentation took place at the Canadian Pain Society annual conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba
in May 2013.
That's all for now!
Not interested anymore? Unsubscribe (email link to chronicpainconnector@theilcfoundation.org)
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