What's Next?

The last few days have been among the most interesting I have had in a very long time.

I spoke at a conference in my home town of Adelaide: the interesting thing was it was the first time I had actually shared the “journey” with those who were present in the room. My injury happened just 850 metres from where I was speaking, the challenge to “write a better workers compensation” happened 1.1kms from where I was speaking, the Adelaide library where I did so much of the research was just 1.4kms from where I was speaking. And the very first workers compensation conference I attended was at the very same location I was speaking at. 

For me the hardest part of the day was not dealing with any of the parts of the conference, but coping with the ghosts of times long past. The memories of not knowing, not understanding, too fearful to ask questions, too fearful to remain quiet. The memories flooded in and my body over-filled with physical and emotional pain.

Also attending the conference were friends and colleagues who had shared much of the journey, they answered my questions, they prodded my thinking, they challenged my concepts and most important they asked me hard questions and then shared coffee with me, always so I would know even when they disagreed with me, they were still on my side and were still my friends.

There were others who also attended the same conference, the naysayers, the scoffers and the doubters. We passed each other but did not speak other than to say hello. What they didn’t understand all that time back and what they still fail to understand now was their rejection simply drove me to try harder, dig deeper and search wider. They frightened me because they had the ability to make life exceedingly difficult for me, they never defeated me because I simply didn’t have the ability to stop once I knew that going forward was far easier than going back or just stopping.

It was interesting to be in Adelaide and in the middle of a workers’ compensation conference, at the end of it I hope that I was able to lay the ghost of times gone past to rest. -Only time will tell on that one.  As with the tree in the top image, I fell almost 25yrs back, but I just kept growing. 

For a very long time I have wondered where the “next” lot of interest in Craig’s Table would come from, today the answer arrived via email. A Phd student is interested in the outcomes of Craig’s Table- this student wants to write her Paper on the connection of physical pain from a workplace injury and the emotional impact the injury has through mainstream workers compensation and when the same people are placed at Craig’s Table why the outcome is different.

I could tell the student, but that wouldn’t gain her her degree, nor would it be as much fun as having Craig’s Table written up in a Paper.

Those of you who know me know that I have an addiction to prescription medication, for a long time I was to ashamed of it to speak about what had happened. Now I just speak about the loss of almost 4yrs of my life and the haze memories that I am never sure if they are my memories or if they are something another person has told me. 

The reason I bring this up is that in all the years I have worked as an injured worker advocate within the workers compensation concept I could almost name in order each person I have refused to work with. This week another name was added to the list.

I looked at the referral, I looked at the list of medications I looked to see if there was any indication of a tapering schedule, I looked and saw addiction. I spoke with the required people, what concerned me most was the lack of concern for the long-term health of the claimant.

It is not easy to know that another person has succumbed to the prescription pad addiction; it is even harder because I know what this person will go through and what this person family will go through as a result of the addiction.

 As with everything, those who know me know that I am slow to anger and even slower to be pushed beyond frustration. I am not sure what the tipping point was within this rejected referral, but what ever it was got me started on yet another project to tighten the laws within Australia in regards to excessive prescriptions.  Thus; I have started the required reading and pulling of information together to put before the Federal Health Minister. I have no idea as to what success I will have in this, what I do know is if I sit and do nothing that I did not learn the lesson from my own addiction- and that for me would be unforgivable. 

Lastly, I have been nominated for the Lifetime Service Award within the workers compensation industry -the Awards Dinner will be held on the 13^th November here in Sydney. It is an odd mixture of emotions wrapped up in this. Whilst I do have a collection of Awards and I have been recognised for the work that I have done over many years within the workers compensation concept and the injured worker community, I have never been recognised by the workers compensation concept, the journey started as an injured worker, and to my way of thinking the journey has much much further to go. I will as I do with all such things, leave others to decide if the work that has been done and continues to grow is worthy of an Award.

For now it is time for me to be in bed. 

Yours in service
Rosemary www.craigstable.net.au
rosemary@craigstable.net.au
SKYPE Rosemary2412
27^th October 2018