Meet the Community Support Team: Mods & Admin

[Jo*mar]

Hello NeuroTalk members,

I'm Jo,
I'm a middle aged (LOL}, mom of 4 and wife to a great guy for 30 years now.
I had repetitive strain injuries that progressed into thoracic outlet syndrome over many years of work, along with myofascial pain and some mild c spine issues.
2003 -2005 were my worst years symptom wise, with a work comp claim and the decision to quit my job.
Somewhere in that time frame was when I found another forum community and made some good friends there and learned a lot from them.
Many of those friends have found this place too.
I hope to meet and make many more new friends as we grow this site together.

Some of my family members have a variety health conditions also, so there are many forums and topics that interest me.
I enjoy learning new things, helping and sharing information to make life better for all of us.
I'll be seeing you on the forums as we all get to know each other.
Jo

[Chemar]

Hi
I am very privileged to be part of the NeuroTalk Community Support Team.

I am first and foremost a member here, so I hope you will feel comfortable knowing you can always contact me about anything, and that I am here to help in whatever way I can.

I have a graduate degree in Physiology, and worked for some time in Medical Research and academics. I have used that background training and experience to continue my own research into alternative and complimentary treatments.
I realize that different people respond very differently to various treatments and so I should stress that I am not anti conventional medicine, rather just pro trying to find the best ways with the least side effects to promote holistic health and healing!

I first began using online neurological forums after my youngest son was dx with Tourette Syndrome plus co-morbid OCD etc at age 10, almost 7 years ago,

We had been through a really scary time because he has extreme sensitivity to prescription meds, and every potential side effect always seems to manifest in him. Anyway, it was a real relief for me when a psychiatrist helped me wean him off the meds and, along with our Integrative medical team, provided guidance in the detoxification and nutritional supplement program that I had been researching online as a possible way to help my son with his very severe and injurious tics and debilitating OCD.

To cut a looooong story short, all has really been going really well since then, and my son's tics and OCD improved dramatically with alternative treatments.
However, he started having agonizing abdominal pains, and overall malaise. A colonoscopy showed that he also has Crohn's Disease. And this has proved a more serious challenge than the TS ever was!

So my research has now taken me into the realm of autoimmunity, and I am thankful that once again, we are seeing tremendously positive results in keeping the Crohn's symptoms subdued with primarily nutritional methods, along with the acupuncture and chiropracty that has also been so beneficial for his Tourette Syndrome.

So what else.....
Art and music are very important to me, as is my spiritual life. I am living proof of the power of prayer and God's ability to work good in and through all things.

I enjoy cats, cooking (especially Japanese & Thai food), my garden and anything creative.

My childhood was spent in South Africa, after which I studied and lived in England for many years.
I now live in the USA and have 2 sons & 3 cats

I have a passion for nature, and spent much of my youth in the big safe-haven game parks in Africa, absorbing the pageant of wild life. I love to travel and experience different places and cultures, and have done so extensively.

So, that's enough about me and I do look forward to getting to know you all too.

Thanks to you, DocJohn, for the way you took us all in, and for establishing our very own NeuroTalk Community, and for all the help and guidance that you provide for us.
And a personal thanks to the rest of the Community Support & Welcome Teams for their dedication and enthusiasm .......and to you, the members, who are the essence of what makes NeuroTalk so special.

[DocJohn]

My name is John Grohol and I've been running online communities first in the 1980s in local BBSes (in northern Delaware, where I grew up), and then in the 1990s on Prodigy and the Internet. I got my start on the Internet in 1991 when I was looking for a depression support group online to help me deal with the suicide of my childhood best friend. I was surprised and relieved to have found one, but it took far more trouble and research than I thought most people would bother with. So I began to index whatever Internet support groups I could find (most of which were either on mailing lists or on the newsgroups). I published such lists throughout the early 1990s and then on my website, Psych Central, in 1995.

After graduating with my doctorate in psychology in 1995 from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, I developed and built the first mental health information portal, Mental Health Net, and a Web-based mental health support community. I left that position in 1999 to join drkoop.com and built their mental health center. After that, I was involved in a number of startups, including an online therapy startup which brought me up to the Boston area. After selling that service (and taking a job in an unrelated field for a time), I did a one-year consulting gig for Steve Case's Revolution Health. I helped them understand the unique needs of mental health users, as well as trying to teach them about how an online health support community differs from many other online communities. I left that gig in Aug. 2006 to focus full-time on Psych Central, my own personal mental health website and community.

I'm married, live and work north of Boston these days, and have no less than 6 cats. Yes, you read that right (there's a story there, but I'll save it for another day). My dad also has had to cope with Parkinson's for many years now, so neurological disorders hold a special place in my heart and mind.

I'm glad you found us and hope you tell others you know if you find our community helpful...

John

[mrsD]

Hello everyone.

Most of you here know me already. I've been asked to join the team of
NeuroTalk, to help keep it working smoothly and safely. I am honored to do this, as this is what I do here for individuals who have questions about their medications or healing in general.

I've been on the Net now for just over 10 years. Back then my son was struggling with ADHD and the side effects of his medications. One of my first tasks on the Net was learning about alternative approaches to dealing with the confusing aspects of ADHD. What I found enabled my son to move past stimulant drugs, and use simple dietary changes plus some simple supplements, like flax oil and fish oil which improved his focus. I redid our
meals and pantry and all of us improved our health issues, and my son was able to discontinue his stimulants.

I have used the knowledge I have found to improve my own arthritis and neuropathy pain as well. I still use drugs carefully when I have to, but I also believe we can also work to enable our own healing and quality of life in other ways.

I will still be contributing as a poster. Members here can still PM me and ask questions on the Vitamin, Medications, and Peripheral Neuropathy, and other forums as well.
That is not going to change. If you need any help posting, or have concerns about the forums, you can contact me at any time.

mrsD

Since writing this biography, I have put up quite a few photos of my life, family, pets and garden flowers on my profile. Each summer I take a hiatus and move to our family island which is in the remote Northern Great Lakes.
We have no electricity, or running water, and even tho the house is nice, it is rustic, indeed in many ways. We have just had a cell tower built about 1 mile away across the water so at least now I have affordable emergency telephone. We tried my hubby's new 3G card with his work computer this summer but it really didn't work well...defaulted to 2G and the battery life was too short. So most of the time I am gone in July/August I am unreachable except by phone/snail mail.

[Kitty]

First of all I'd like to say that I'm so appreciative of the invitation to join the Moderation Team.

I was dx with Multiple Sclerosis in October 2005 after a scary episode of double vision that lasted over 4 months.

A little about me. I'm 48 years young and have two sons, 26 and 22. My husband passed away suddenly in 2001. I lost my Mom and Dad in 2005 (same year I was dx with MS) and my older sister Susan in January 2007. So.....I'm no stranger to loss and grief.

In spite of it all,I'm happy. I have 2 wonderful sons, 2 sweet cats (who think they are human) and my faith. I've been in a couple of relationships since my husband's death that have disappointed me to the point of not wanting to ever marry again. I have learned that there is nothing wrong with being alone. I'm not lonely - just alone...if that makes any sense.

I feel so honored to be a part of this wonderful group of people. I consider everyone here a friend and hope you all feel the same about me.

I know MS is a serious condition and realize what it can do - but sometimes we just have to laugh in its face and let it know that it cannot take away our sense of humor.
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