Hi! My name's Michelle (as you probably guessed) living in western
Washington state. I'm a chronic pain person who finds this group
exceptionally insightful, informational, & inspiring and I'm really
hoping one of you fine folks can help me out here.

I hope this isn't an inappropriate post since this question isn't
regarding my (main?) chronic pain, it's just little itchings I have in
my brain about a surgery.

Ok, so on 4/25 I had arthroscopy done on my left knee for a torn
medial meniscus. Yesterday during my post-op appt, I inquired whether
or not the clicking in my knee would go away given I maintain my
prescribed course of anti-inflammatory (naproxen, 375mg twice/day)...
knowing of course that it was ratcheting cartilage that caused the
clicking & locking & instability pre-surgery. He informed me that he
used pieces of rebar (?) in my knee "to hold things together" and that
the sutures used would absorb at the same rate as those used to seal
up the incisions. The clicking (and it is completely painless albeit
a little exhausting) is, apparently, caused by the pieces of metal
abrading against each other. He said it'll go away in about 5 weeks
as the sutures absorb.

Hey folks,

There's the first half of an article I found pretty interesting, on the
treatment of quadriplegics and how despite being told to get used to life in
a chair, with proper treatment, some people are standing, even actually
walking to a certain extent. Unfortunately, the article is only the first
half, so it's hard to say where it's going. It could even be spammish for
this particular rehab facility. So I'll just leave you the link or you can
find it at Yahoo news in the health section...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_he_me/a_wish_to_walk_i;_ylt=AsGo3prY5D...

May it gives someone some hop

Hey Folks,

Must be something in the air, the time of year, or someone's funding coming
due, but tis the season to pick on pain killers.
This one is so new, I don't think there's anyone here on it. If you are
familiar...

Assessment of increased serum aminotransferases in a managed atlantic
bottlenose dolphin (tursiops truncatus) population.
Venn-Watson S, Smith CR, Jensen ED
J Wildl Dis 2008 Apr; 44(2):318-30.

Nonspecific chronic hepatitis and increased activities of serum
aminotransferases have been reported in cetaceans (dolphins,
porpoises, and whales).
We identified bottlenose dolphins in our current population...

Dysregulation of hepatic iron with aging: implications for heat stress-
induced oxidative liver injury.
Bloomer SA, Brown KE, Buettner GR, Kregel KC
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2008 Feb 13.

Environmental heat stress is associated with an age-related increase
in hepatic oxidative damage and an exaggerated state of oxidative
stress.
The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the regulation...

I was looking up benzo equivalents and found this really interesting web
site run by MDs. It's a psych drug web site but has info about the best
way to detox from pain meds and benzos etc. Take a peek if you have some
time and the inclination.

http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/

Debs