When I first met Ms. Miller (name changed), quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to get out of the room. I’m sure she couldn’t either. A woman in her 40s with systemic lupus erythematosus, poorly controlled asthma and fibromyalgia, she seemed to have every conceivable symptom. And, worse than that, due to a long history of…
Pain can deter patients with rheumatic disease from engaging in physical activity. But the latest research shows exercise helps reduce pain, & other influences may also affect patients’ activity levels, particularly after surgery…
Interdisciplinary collaboration is proving valuable to address bio-psycho-social pain management in pediatric patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles…
When Liz Morasso, LCSW, facilitates a Families Living with Rheumatic Diseases support group at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, she empathizes with the struggles and challenges of her young patients. Ms. Morasso was only 16 years old when she was diagnosed with both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). She knows all too well…
An integral part of the rheumatology care team, social workers can address specific issues related to a patient’s overall wellbeing. Here are some insights into how rheumatologists can better partner with social workers as part of the interdisciplinary team to ensure better patient outcomes…
My nephew is an addict. These words do not come easily to me, but I have come to accept them as true. In retrospect, I should have recognized the telltale signs: He stopped picking up the phone when I call. He disappears and then re-emerges hours later, seemingly having done nothing. He has lost interest…
There are moments that the words don’t reach There is suffering too terrible to name You hold your child as tight as you can And push away the unimaginable —Lin Manuel Miranda A friend of mine was killed a few days ago. By the time you read this column, the scars will have already started…
CHICAGO—When it comes to correctly diagnosing joint pain in children, “things take time,” said Michael L. Miller, MD, quoting Danish physicist and poet Piet Hein. Children with pain but normal physical examinations may need to return to the clinic for repeat evaluation over several months. “I often tell parents that laboratory tests may help in…
Bob and Jan Richardson’s separate paths to physical therapy and rheumatology involve wrestling and horses—although not at the same time. Their intertwining stories also involve a fair amount of serendipity. Mr. Bob Richardson For Bob Richardson, PT, MEd, the path started in the late 1950s, when he was wrapping up a fulfilling college wrestling career…
The evaluation of a child with arthralgia who has a normal physical examination provides a challenge to rheumatologists. Here are some insights into assessing and treating children with musculoskeletal pain syndromes…