This is from a previous blog article. I have edited it for Pain Awareness Month to help others understand a bit about living with chronic pain.
If Only
If only those suffering with chronic pain had the opportunity to have their pain seen by those that aren't able to comprehend how it feels, how it impacts every moment of every day and every night, what it does to a person’s life, how it takes every aspect of what one use to be and leaves one’s life and soul shredded, searching to find some sort of relief from the unending, horrendous nightmare of the disease called chronic pain.
If only those that aren’t capable of comprehending what it is like to live with chronic pain could glimpse the struggle of those dealing with the losses and the grieving . If only others could see what it takes to endure this type of life and to find the strength it takes to rebuild one’s life to integrate living with this horrid disease.
If only those people, who aren’t able to understand could possibly perceive the pain that is hidden beneath the surface, maybe then they would comprehend. Maybe then those suffering would not be ignored, glossed over, cut off and dismissed.
If only people in the news world would truly report both sides of the story. News reporters like Anderson Cooper who “goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news,” did a story on “Prescription Addiction-Made in the USA” on Anderson Cooper 360. I truly expected more of what it is like to live with chronic pain to be a part of this report.
I was pleased that a chronic pain person, Kay Sanford, was included in this audience and had been able to share part of her story, which included much of what many suffering with chronic pain seek, healthy ways to find relief from living in a body trapped in unrelenting pain. On behalf of all chronic pain sufferers I want to say, thank you, Kay Sanford, for doing what you had to do to get there to share your story! All of us know what it takes to travel anywhere!
I do think she had a lot more to share though! Anderson had asked, “What would you say to patients like this?” And Dr. Drew, who was on the show, stated, “I would say, ‘good, fantastic!’ I would say in this situation no one would dream of interfering with her treatment. But that is a very tiny minority.”
This left me completely speechless! Does he actually believe what he said? Dr. Drew actually stated, “…that is a very tiny minority.” Is he really not aware of the statistics in the
National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: The Role of Opioids in the Treatment of Chronic Pain?
National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: The Role of Opioids in the Treatment of Chronic Pain?
If only these people in the public eye, that hears their voices could learn the other side of the story!
Among the many other subjects covered in this NIH study released in February of 2015, this report states that there are 100 million chronic pain sufferers in America. Of those, 25 million suffer with moderate to severe chronic pain.
This report also states that 2% abuse their prescribed narcotics! There is no ignoring this incredibly distressing reality. I definitely do not want to come off as ignoring all those suffering addiction, nor those that die every day overdosing! Not only is addiction a horrifying disease that has many horrible affects on the sufferer, it also has appalling ripple effects on all the families and friends it affects. As far as I am concerned something needs to be done to combat this! There is no way anyone can overlook that at all!
What about the 98%? In the Anderson Cooper special, Kay Sanford represented the 98% of us using our prescribed opioids appropriately. And Dr. Drew stated she was part of “a very tiny minority.”
There are 98% of these sufferers that are using their prescribed medications APPROPRIATELY! Medications, that by the way, are needed to try and live somewhat of a functional life…a life shredded to pieces by chronic pain! A life many describe as a "life of hell!" Many cannot comprehend such a life! It can be hard enough for those living with unending, all encompassing, overwhelming moderate to severe chronic pain to even comprehend the magnitude of such a reality!
If only others would hear our hearts, what we try to share, only to be disregarded. We need to be our own representatives as to how many chronic pain sufferers are perceived. I do know addiction is a horrid reality. However, interweaved in this are those of us, the 98% that get demeaned and degraded for just having the disease of chronic pain and having to use opioids and other medications that somewhat help us to have somewhat of a "normal" life. Even if it only allows us to be able to get up out of bed and toilet ourselves! Make a simple meal for our families. To go outside occasionally and sit with the sun on our faces!
If only, people could understand...
-None of us, 100% of all of us with chronic pain, should be discriminated against at all for having to deal with this horrific disease. Nor should we be humiliated for having to utilize a medication that is prescribed by ones physician to live a life that is as functional as possible.
-The majority of physicians are not the “drug doctors” many say when discussing opioid use. That is a whole different subject, yes another sordid problem, but again, the majority should not be scandalized for the minority!
-After thorough and detailed research on what the DEA and the CDC has already done, (with more being put into place) and how it has already negatively affected the lives of many chronic pain sufferers trying to maintain and obtain treatment, we will have someone give a voice to those suffering with chronic pain and the multiple affects on our physical, emotional, financial, relational and social side effects of what we deal with.
If only all chronic pain was made visible so others could see the horror of this disease.
