Telling It Like It Is: Pain Awareness and Rheumatoid Arthritis


September's National Pain Awareness Month in the US and I got on the barricades on MyRACentral...

"'Are you in pain right now?'
'Yes. I am always in pain.'

I was talking to someone about RA and when she asked me this question, I felt a strange inner shift. It took me a while - several hours, in fact - to realize what had happened. It had been relief. The relief of being honest about my pain. And it made me think."

The rest of the post is here.


Comments

Lucia said…
I had chronic pain for many years, and until it was gone I had no idea how much of my life it had preempted. I'm lucky: my disease isn't progressive, and it doesn't threaten my life or mobility, nor does it cause other diseases. When I saw a doctor for it around three years ago I was asked how much pain I was in on the standard 1-10 scale, and I think I said 3. As soon as it was gone I realized that it had been at least 5. I had no idea how much energy I was spending just blocking it. No wonder I was tired all the time. (I used to wake up nearly always before the alarm went off; those days are gone, which is both good and bad, because if I forget to set the alarm I may be catapulted out of bed by a call from Taz's van driver, telling me I have three minutes to get him up and changed and outside.)

My pain was never bad enough to require big-time drugs, although if I had to take them for something else, how I did relish them. But it was not to be sneezed at, either. I'd like to see some of these holier-than-thou legislators and medical professionals live in constant pain for a week or so. That might give them a little sympathy.
3:36 PM
Diana Troldahl said…
Thank you for another wonderful, thought-provoking article.
I have forwarded it to many.
3:30 PM
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