Living with Chronic Pain

Tuesday morning.  No classes today.  Plan on taking it very easy.  Just trying to heal.  Went to meditation and arts and crafts yesterday, and as much as that music was calling out to me, I did not participate in dance. This back pain is lingering on and on and on.  It's been a few years since it lasted this long....and both sides to boot.   I had an old hairline fracture of the lower spine, and arthritis set in.  As the doctor said, "Your lower back is riddled with arthritis.  And it is only going to get worse"  Just what I didn't want to hear....although I already knew.  I've been suffering off and on for many years now.

It's kind of funny the way it happened.  I may be a city girl now, but I was a country girl until I turned 26.  I was about 19 when I went night fishing for carp with a group of friends.  It had been fairly quiet up until I felt a strong tug on my line.  Strong wasn't the word for it.  I was actually having quite a struggle.  My friends offered to help, but I wanted to reel this one in by myself.  Then it happened.  My feet slipped out from under me, and I fell onto a pile of rocks.  Never had I felt such stabbing pain.  I lay there as my friends reeled in a 25 pound snapping turtle.   

I was taken to the ER and later released.  "Badly bruised back" was the way they put it.  It wasn't until 30 years later when a hospital in New York did Xrays and discovered that I had actually suffered a hairline fracture back then.  Ironically, the Xrays showed I had had back surgery at some time in my life.  You can imagine how I felt when 5 doctors come to examine my back.  Scary moment.  And all confirmed back surgery I never had, but no scar.  A past life maybe?

My carpal tunnel is also acting up, more thanks to yoga.  We had to turn our chairs backward, lay our palms on the seat, and do our stretching exercises that way.  No wonder my body fell apart.  Some of us just can't do yoga.  Have a feeling the strain in my quadricepts is due to yoga as well.  But, in all fairness, I cannot put all the blame on yoga.  I've been living with pain for years now.  Fibromyalgia and osteaoarthritis have been taking turns kicking my butt, but, by golly, I never let them win.  Never give up.

I don't take any prescription meds and only alternate Aleve with Tylenol Arthritis and Copper Fixx cream.  It works great and best part it doesn't have that pain cream smell.  I also use a heating pad, hot shower on my back, simple exercise, and walking.  In alternatives I take Turmeric, Vitamin D3, Krill oil, pro- and pre-biotics, and Yucca pills.  I was taking Glucosamine, but when I discovered it can elevate blood pressure, I stopped taking them. 

With that being said, I wanted to tell you about a book I have been reading.  It's awesome, and once I start reading, I couldn't put it down.  In fact, I was so engrossed in reading that I almost missed my stop the other day.  Glanced up just in time.  

Karen Duffy is a model, actress, and a writer.  In 1995, she  was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, the growth of inflammatory cells that form lumps in different parts of the body. Duffy's brain and spinal cord were affected, leaving her partially paralyzed. In this book she describes dealing with her ongoing incurable disease and constant pain by using humor and acceptance of her condition to cope. During the start of the book she says "pain that changes you" when you realize that pain is not going away, and you're just going to have to live with it.  I have come to that realization.  I kept hoping that one day I'd get up pain free, but that's just not going to happen, and I have to live with.  I think I've done a pretty darned good job of it.

Duffy says that one thing she has found helpful to herself and  recommends highly to others living with chronic pain is to give. Whenever your own condition allows it, helping others   will give back to you in such a way that it will feed your soul as nothing else can. She also talks about the importance of getting up and moving, walking as much as your body will allow, daily if at all possible,but at least three times a week if you can't do daily.

This book is an inspiration.  If you or a loved one suffers from chronic pain and illness, you owe it to yourself or to them to purchase a copy to help you or them feel like they are not alone.  Using a sense of humor, she makes this delicate subject a very enjoyable read.  And very inspirational.  

A few quotes from the book.

"Be the best person you can be because this is what transforms a sufferer into an endurer".  Powerful words for sure.

“Pain is intensified from trying to control the uncontrollable. Acceptance and resilience have made me stronger.” 

"The disease that's keeping you holed up in the house began in your past, but your future is yours, so start moving in the present."

"Concealing an illness is like keeping a beach ball under water."  It's a struggle, yes.  I really hate to complain, so when people ask how I am feeling, I tell them I feel okay despite the fact that inside I am hurting.

"It's a mistake to do nothing just because you can only do a little.”

"The only way to reverse the problems caused by all the sitting is to get up off your keister and get moving"

“When things are easy, you miss the chance to learn how tough you are.”

And one I find especially meaningful:

"The ability to walk without pain is a gift that we don’t have anymore. Being able to walk with pain and not give up is a superpower. It's hard. But no one said being a superhero was easy”