Chronic Bits 

Disaboom pointed us to this great contest, where you make a 60-second video about your work on the job as a disabled Babe...and you can win a $1,500 prize!

We're digging this new effort by young folks with arthritis, aimed at educating newbies, friends, family, co-workers and more.

Chronic illness career coach Rosalind Joffe addresses the fear and frustration FibroBabes face when disclosing their illness.

It's time to "level the field" says Florence, and she does an awesome job this week hosting Grand Rounds. And now we want peanuts and crackerjacks. They're healthy, right? Hmm?

If you take Singulair, Accolate, Zyflo or Zyflo CR then you should read this report from WebMD on new warnings for these medications.

From the Editrix: Our President is seeking real health stories from Americans, and I shared mine today. You can too! Visit the Health Care Action Center and upload your story (and a pic?) and check out many other moving stories that will inspire you to act. It's pretty darn awesome.

Want to help out with a migraine study? Alexandra Carmichael, a scientist whose mother has lived with migraine for 30 years, is conducting a study on migraine through the website she co-founded, CureTogether.

Well, maybe not ALL of them, but there sure are plenty at Making Medicine Smarter.

Editrix Jenni just joined. The National Pain Foundation's new site is terrific, including a community for conversation and a free subscription to their quarterly magazine. Yay!

This statement from the Our Bodies, Ourselves position paper says it all: "Single-payer system would encourage better care for chronic illnesses. Women utilize chronic care services far more than men. Because caring for people with chronic disease now accounts for more than 75% of all health care spending, women will benefit substantially from more efficient and effective ways to deal with severe chronic illnesses." Of course, there are more reasons to love the idea. Take the time to consider their position and take action to talk to your Senators, Babes!

Tampax tells us how it would be. Kinda. Here's the whole story, starting with Day 1.

Apparently we are. When Salon takes a swipe at us fibroBabes (and Dudes) Feministe fights back. (Thanks, Babe!) The Editrix is currently ranting to her officemates about the ill-informed, misogynistic dumbbell who wrote the Salon piece and will probably do so for a few more minutes. Grr...

This fun little search for ChronicBabe on Spezify.com made us giggle. Try searching yourself—it's fun! (OK, we can't get the link to work, but try searching for us. We promise it's coolio!)

and she writes about it at her blog, A Chronic Dose. Of course, health care concerns were top of the list.

NBC Bay Area reports that a local woman, 18-yr-old Jessica Terry, brought samples of her own tissue into science class and diagnosed Crohn's Disease, after years of doctors misdiagnosing her. You go, girl!

Bookstore, that is. It's Editrix Jenni's fave Chicago book haven, and it's in trouble. Time Out Chicago reports sales are down and this awesome national institution needs your help. Support a local bookstore that supports women!

Kenneth Thorpe writes movingly at the Huffington Post about the ways we can shape a more efficient and cheaper health care system, without putting all of the onus on consumers. Babes, there's a heavy conversation happening right now and it's time to get educated on the factors shaping the future of health care. This piece is a great place to start if you're new to the movement.

The FDA is moving to remove or limit access to pain medications that so many of us use. You can learn more from the American Pain Foundation and take action by submitting your comments to the FDA. We need EVERYONE who uses meds (or knows someone who does) to help in the effort to keep these valuable tools accessible! Want to know if your meds are on the list? Read this PDF primer with the list and tons of other helpful info.

From across the pond, The Jobbing Doctor brings us a fresh edition of Grand Rounds. Enjoy!

First, we just love this site's name. Second, Grand Rounds is a terrific way to learn about cool health sites. Third, get reading, Babes! It's fresh at Health Blawg.

We're not just talking...we're DOING. And CNN agrees that mindfulness can help beat stress (so it must be true!).