The IC Optimist is the ICN's quarterly patient and professional magazine dedicated to all things IC and pelvic pain. Subscriptions are available for just $25 per year via email of $50 per year to have a printed copy mailed to you. This issue is also available for single purchase (print or electronic pdf.) Proceeds are [...]
One Woman Forced To Pee in A Box, Then Gets Fired, After Repeatedly Asking For Restroom Access It's hard to believe that, in 2014, companies are still trying to punish people who need to use the restroom more frequently. Case in point, Chicago's WaterSaver Faucet Company. Their union, Teamsters local 743, has filed a complaint with the [...]
The IC Optimist is the quarterly magazine of the Interstitial Cystitis Network. From feature stories to self-help tips, diet tips to powerful editorials, the IC Optimist is our flagship publication delivered to patients and providers around the world. In this issue: (1) Editorial: Bladder Rape by Silver Nitrate - We begin this issue with an [...]
(Editors Note - This is a reprint of an editorial that I did in our magazine, the IC Optimist. I chose to reprint it after a phone call from a young woman who called my office outraged that her doctor had cut off her pain medication. She asked me if she was taking a lot [...]
How One Patient Was Forced To Have A Treatment Without Her Consent (Author: Jill H. Osborne MA, President, IC Network) There is no excuse for what happened to a female IC patient THIS YEAR. Her primary care provider suspected that she had interstitial cystitis and referred her to a urologist in her community. She made [...]
If you're a man struggling with a hormone dysfunction, which medical care provider should you go to for treatment? Well, it might surprise you to learn that most men seek care from gynecologists who, by far, have the most experience treating hormone dysfunctions. Last year, however, the American Board of OB-GYN passed a new rule [...]
How A 17 Year Old Can Teach Us All How To Live Despite The Presence of Illness and Pain If you’ve never heard of Sam Berns, you’ve missed an amazing young man. Sam was one of the most inspirational role models for children and adults suffering with a challenging medical condition, in his case progeria. [...]
By Jill Osborne MA Women with pelvic pain have long sought refuge in the offices of their Ob-Gyn when struggling with pelvic pain. Of all of the medical specialties, it is the Ob-Gyn who has the most training and experience in dealing with pelvic pain and pelvic floor disorders. Men, however, have not had such [...]
Endometriosis Risk Linked to Two Pesticides Interstitial cystitis and endometriosis are known as the "evil twins" in medical literature because they so often co-exist in patients. Thus, any story which covers endometriosis is certainly of relevance to the IC community. This press releases shares yet more deeply disturbing information about the impact of toxins in [...]
There are few more hotly debated discussions in the USA than the use of medical marijuana. With the common and often ugly image of drug addicts smoking joints, it’s easy to think of marijuana as just a street drug. Yet, if we could remove that image from the American psyche and replace it with that [...]
