Carnivals, Links, Nebulizers...

Increased time spent with my trusty nebulizer plus increased deadlines with a dash of extended family functions=what?

You guessed it, even more time with nebulizers, chest PT, and new meds. Oh, and it partially explains the lack of posts the past week or so, despite the ideas teeming around in my cluttered head.

However, I do have some links to quality reading to share. First off, it's the end of the month, which means the monthly Pain-Blog carnival is up at How to Cope with Pain. The best posts of each month are featured, and new bloggers are always welcome to contribute.

Also, I've written before about patient authority and the right to say "No" to procedures. (I've also left the hospital against medical advice before, but that's a whole other story, and turns out I was totally right to do so.) Most times, though, I do what I'm told even if I don't like it--because let's be serious, is there usually a lot of appeal to invasive or otherwise uncomfortable medical procedures?--if it's something my doctors and I feel will best give us the information we need to improve my health. Anyway, I mention all this because I came across an interesting Explainer piece on Slate.com about patients' rights and consenting to medical procedures. Check it out if you have a minute.