The Pain Chronicles: Take 1

One of the goals of my blog is to create an outlet for me to share what I experience with EDS with the people who care about me.  

I've mentioned before that Melanie Thernstrom's 2010 book, The Pain Chronicles was a wonderfully uplifting and informative book.  I thought it would be interesting to share some of the parts of it that spoke to me and what it meant to me.

Here are a few quotes from the beginning of the book. 

(page 5)
To be in physical pain is to find yourself in a different real--a state of being unlike any other, a magic mountain as far removed from the unfamiliar world as a dreamscape.  Usually, pain subsides; one walks from it as from a nightmare, trying to forget it as quickly as possible.  But what of pain that persists?  The longer it endures, the more excruciating the exile becomes.  Will you ever go home? you begin to wonder, home to your normal body, thoughts, life?  

I know this feeling all too well.  Sometimes I feel like the pain has consumed my life.  It can make me feel like I would rather be alone than to have to somehow explain the pain to someone else or experience it in their presence.  When I feel like it's been a while since I've felt like myself, I start to wonder when my life will possibly become familiar again.  I do maintain though, that no matter whether the good days out weigh the bad or the other way around, that the not-so-painful days are my familiar days.  I hope I never get to the point that the painful days are what feel normal.
                                                                         
This may seem dreary, but it's comforting to know that these feelings are a normal part of this process.

(page 6)
In one survey, most chronic pain patients said that their pain was "a normal part of their medical condition and something with which they must live."  One-third of the patients said that their pain's severity was "sometimes so bad [they] want to die."  Almost one-half said they would spend all they have on treatment if they could be assured it would banish their pain.

Again, it's nice to see numbers like one-third and one-half.  Feels less lonely or like "exile."  It's been a tough pill to swallow that, in my twenties, I cut down my hours at work and started letting someone else clean my house.  This is my equivalent of throwing all my money at treatment-since less physical work means better quality life.  

There was a lot of self-worth wrapped up in doing things for myself.  That's something I have come to realize that I just need to do in order to feel better.  What good is working all the time if I feel like half of a person when I'm struggling through the work-day and less of a person than that when I finally make it home in the evening.  It is getting easier to accept this feat.  It certainly helps that there is a notable difference in the way I feel. 

I look forward to more posts from this book.  I think she did a great job of blending enough personal information, like the above quotes, with scientific information- which will be coming soon.