Pain Management Community

Hello Sharon,

What a lovely discussion you've begun.
I am glad that you're doing so well.

Please do understand that many of us live with disorders, diseases, or injuries that cannot be fixed by surgery.

I have had many surgeries- over ten in the past seven years- with no hope that in a full year I'll recover to return to my job and my former athletic goals..

This is the difference between acute and chronic pain:

Acute pain is of short duration, like an injury that will heal, or post-op pain. You had surgery that caused pain and, with time, this pain diminished with the expectation that you'd be recovered by a year's time.

Your pain has reduced to discomfort probably because your body was healing at a natural pace, so the caffeine and sugar being cut from your diet probably was not as significant as time naturally healing your surgery discomfort.

Me, and others like me, experience chronic pain. Again, we may have surgeries like mine- to stabilize my broken bones, fuse our spines (I have multi-level cervical and lumbar fusions both). or to surgically implant neuro-modulation systems to treat intolerable pain: to make our hell a little-less intolerable.

I am an RN and I would love to go back to work. I am permanently and totally disabled. I was also an athlete and ran nine miles the morning of my accident in training for a half marathon.

The difference between me, and others who live with chronic pain, is that we will not get better, Our pain will not get better the longer we are from surgery.

I am preparing for a surgery, but have no unrealistic expectations that I'll, "get my life back". I do have a life, but a life a whole lot different than the life I had before.

While it is wonderful that you've recovered well after surgery, and that post op pain can be bothersome, and that you're planning to walk/ run a 5K race at sixteen weeks post-op, but you are healing and going to get better and return to the life you had pre-op.

For many of us this as not a possibility.

Good luck and best wishes,

CTB

I agree with Beth, it is refreshing to here a success story, as most of what's posted here are people going through multiple levels of hell.

As for chronic pain, I'm with CTB, in the same boat anyways... Once in a while I may get some relief here and there, most of which I think is just me convincing myself that it doesn't hurt that much. It always returns unfortunately.

Fortunately I have a beautiful wife and four nearly grown kids to motivate me. Without them, I'd probably just give up and succumb to the pain, as the Good Lord knows, I've had far more than my fair share...

Anyways, talking about horror stories... My bad!

Stay strong, take it easy on your body so you will continue to heal, and enjoy what you've got, I just takes a micro second for everything to dramatically change.

Peace,

R

Mr R,

That micro-second, or nano-second, I now call:

~THE BIG BANG~

It's nearly a miracle that the both of us are alive.
I would, when and if you wish, like to hear more about your MV vs human accident.

Still, all things considered (Hey, I have four children, too!), I have a good life, a fine life.

No more running. No more hospital RN, no more awakening in the mornings and feeling no pain (ever).

Many times I do not want to fall asleep at night because I know that the next sensation I'm to feel upon consciousness will be knives in my back.

Still, it's a more quiet life than I had heretofore imagined I'd want, but it's a good life and I have learned what is truly important. The rest is just noise.

Take care,

Bet

I would never want to minimize anyone's pain and I did not mean to imply that. I know people who are living with chronic pain, so I try hard not to complain about anything I've been through. My wish was to offer some hope to those like myself. People having this surgery for whatever reason. Like I stated previously, I craved information, some kind of timeline for healing. I know now that I may have this nerve pain for a year or more. I know that Neurontin for me is a good option. I know when I have caffeine or sugar I feel like those nerves are on fire. I'm thankful it's not worse than that. I guess I just want someone to be able to google thoracotomy and not read all the terrifying things I read. Sometimes I think there are good endings, but because people feel better, they never return to a message board to tell their success story.