Join For Grace founder Cynthia Toussaint as she continues her Miracle Makers live stream series on The Mighty's Chronic Illness Facebook page this Thursday, September 26 @ 1:30pm PT. This month Cynthia interviews Dr. Donna Benton who's an assistant research professor at the University of Southern California specializing in aging and caregiving. Dr. Benton will share insights on the challenges of caregiving for someone with a serious chronic illness, in particular those with persistent pain. She'll also give advice on how caregivers can practice self-care to stay healthy and well despite the stress.
For Grace's efforts to improve the lives of those with chronic pain received a number of nice mentions on a webinar hosted by the US Pain Foundation that featured National Pain Report editor-in-chief Ed Coghlan. Specifically highlighted were founder Cynthia Toussaint's spearheading a series of articles on Fox News that provided the overlooked chronic pain patient side of the opioid crisis - and our efforts to implement a comprehensive pain strategy in California. Listen to the entire webinar HERE.
GREAT NEWS! For the 17th year in a row, For Grace has championed a resolution that proclaims September as Pain Awareness Month and September 1st as Women In Pain Awareness Day in California. This year SR 65 became a California Women’s Caucus priority resolution – meaning this influential group strongly supports our annual legislation to spotlight chronic pain as a public health crisis as well as the gender bias toward women in pain. This year’s author is Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, the first in a long line of women legislators who will lead the charge.
For Grace's September Story of the Month features a woman who experienced bias and discrimination as a patient and medical school student. Shannon Stocker developed CRPS during her residency and quickly had her complaints of pain dismissed by the profession she'd spent much of her life in pursuit of. She recalled that in medical school doctors made fun of women with unexplainable pain, labeling them "frequent flyers" for their many appointments. Teaming up with her devoted husband, Shannon found answers and practitioners who brought relief.
