Chronic pain. Unfortunately, so many of us deal with it every single day of our lives. It makes daily functioning, everyday activities extremely challenging. Chronic pain affects many, if not all areas of our lives. Those whom have to battle chronic pain know just how much it can affect energy levels, attitudes, mental and emotional states, along with our general interactions and behaviors in our world. It is always on our minds, sometimes so much so that we cannot sleep, participate in activities, even eat. Chronic pain drains us, it drains our energy levels so much that it is a struggle to get out of bed. Once we get out of bed, we are faced with the challenge of "getting going" - so to speak. We are exhausted from dealing with the pain the emanates throughout our bodies, and for myself, it sometimes feels like I have been hit by a "mack truck." Depending upon the cause and source of the pain, which we may experience in a variety of ways, one thing seems to remain consistent, it is a daily struggle that is always present, and enters every aspect of our lives.
Pain is our bodies way of telling us that something is not right. It is meant to alert us to a problem, and in turn, we are suppose to either "fix it" or stop the action/behavior that is causing the pain. But, when we are faced with a permanent health problem that results in continuous pain, we have to seek out different ways of "solving" our pain problem. So many solutions provided by the medical community are more or less "band-aid" fixes. Of course there is the popular "medication fix," which does not truly address the problem, although for those that have too much pain to deal with life, it is often a necessary evil. Surgeries and other medical procedures are common place for western medicine providers, but I must say that in my experience, many of these "solutions" lead to more problems, rather than fixing the underlying issues. -And I fear that there are a few docs out there that are a bit too excited to jump quickly to the surgery route, but, that is just my humble opinion - Of course there are situations that require surgical interventions in order to save your life, and I understand this as well, as I faced a similar dilemma. And while my operations and procedures promised not only to save my life (which they did) and reduce the pain, the outcome was far from what was suggested/expected, and to be frank, my pain remains a life long struggle (Not to mention a mix of ongoing and unpredictable problems that rack my body daily) . I find it funny (obviously not a funny haha, but rather just ridiculous), as so many doctors and providers often bill a given procedure or surgery as a fix, a fix that promises a solution to the given condition, end of story. All of us dealing with chronic pain, whether it result from spine conditions, injuries, illnesses, and so forth, know the truth. No matter how grand, no matter how praised the procedure, there is no simple, quick or ultimate answer or fix to the pain problem.
So many people want to believe in that fairy tale. And it is understandable, as we hate to see our loved one's in pain, especially if it is a long term, daily experience. It seems unending, and honestly, much of the time, it is. Medical science has come a lllloooonnnggggg way in a short period of time. That much is true. But, for all of you fellow chronic pain sufferers, those whom battle chronic ailments and diseases like cancer, auto immune diseases, spinal conditions, transplants, severe infections, and so much more, know that no matter how spectacular the presented solution appears, there is no band-aid that truly sticks. This is why I have began a page dedicated to chronic pain. While there are many causes for our pain, we all deal with similar struggles, face the same challenges, battle the same attitudes, medical system, and fight for a sense of normalcy. I hope that anyone and everyone who deals with chronic pain may feel that they can share their stories, their tears, their anger, and their accumulated knowledge & experience on this page. I hope that we can provide each other some support, resources, do's and don'ts, all in the name of decreasing the pain.
Chronic pain sufferers are the only ones whom can truly empathize and hear other chronic pain sufferers. It is a struggle to get others in your life to really "get it." I find that while they try to understand, try to sympathize and be compassionate, it is nearly impossible for them to understand when they are not in it everyday, every minute, like we are. I know that many of us try to remain quite about our pain, not to bother our significant others or family and friends, that as a general rule we try to avoid sounding like we are "complaining." And we are not complainers. We are usually survivors, courageous survivors that endure far more than anyone should ever have to deal with in a lifetime. It becomes beyond frustrating to get others to truly understand. We do not enjoy being in pain, nor do we enjoy having the same answer to the question, "how are you feeling?" This struggle often interferes and strains relationships and friendships. It can make us doubt ourselves, our bodies, our minds, and can result in an internal battle of anger, frustration, and sadness with ourselves.
I believe that this issue is similar to the struggle so many of us face with doctors, and convincing them how we feel in our bodies. We know ourselves better than anyone else. Yes, even better than the "god like," "know it all" doctors, who often try to tell us we are crazy or depressed when they can't find an answer to our pain and constellation of symptoms. It is an easy train to jump on, not to mention a frequently travelled train...it allows the doctor to appear competent when they doubt themselves (which they rarely admit), and with their authority and status, we begin to doubt ourselves, believing that our pain is not real, or that we are crazy, selfish, or attention hoarders. It happens so often, that we ignore our best advocate, our intuition. When we are ill, dealing with so much pain, facing daily fatigue and literally struggling to get through the day, we have little energy left to battle doctors, question their authority and push for help. I have experienced this first hand more than one time, and it nearly resulted in my death, and ultimately changed my life forever. I want to note that I do not dislike all doctors, and do promote visiting a provider(s) when you need to, but I want to emphasize how important it is to listen to your own voice, trust your gut, and not buy into the idea that the doctors know all and should not be questioned. From personal experience and while witnessing others' experiences, I have seen a pattern that seems to occur far too often, which I find frightening.
I will post blogs to this page that describe various personal experiences in the "field of pain"...situations, stories, experiences, and interactions, that others that would likely not fully or truly understand, unless they too have been in the throws of chronic pain. I will also add my findings when it comes to what has worked for my pain, and what hasn't cut it. Please add your own suggestions, as we can never have too many ideas and suggestions for the relief of pain!!!
I have provided links on the right hand side of this page that connect to other posts that are related to medical issues and conditions. The pages' subject's are purely my personal interests, and do not include certain conditions/illnesses that may be noted on this page. They are all works in progress, as is this page. As of March 17th 2009, my other "health related" posts include: Spondylolisthesis Grade 5, Auto Immune Diseases, and Medical & Legal Malpractice. You can also access these pages, as well as my other blogs, including "5 positive things 4 today," "fortheluvofcats," "betrayal's journey to forgiveness," and "finding celebrities to donate their swag bags" on my profile page "CATLUV."
My desire for this page is simple. I hope that it may allow a dialogue to open between all of those whom experience chronic pain, so that we can share, support one another, listen and truly hear each others pain and struggles with it (because sometimes that's all we need, no judgement, no comments, or even suggestions, just someone that really knows how you feel and can therefore provide validation in your experiences). I hope that anyone whom may offer ideas for pain relief, western medicine, alternative healing and everything and anything in between, may list their comments under new blogs added to the page (so that it may be easily accessible and all in one place). There are obviously a lot of different ailments, and with all these various conditions comes a variety of surgical procedures/options...Some are more successful than others, some are "newer" and/or "experimental," and many can only be found at certain medical hospitals, universities, communities. If you have information regarding any procedure, providers, hospitals, etc., please provide any details that you may deem important and ultimately helpful to someone dealing with the same or similar situations. From my experience, given the level of patient privacy rules these days, it is often hard to get all the information you need, the nitty gritty of the details, what to expect, how a doctor performs (even personality), all can help a fellow chronic pain patient find a good fit for their health care choices....hopefully, making their future a bit better through knowledge that may allow them to avoid certain things, and ask certain questions.
