Chronic pain is like a darn toothache that naws away at your nerves day after day hour after hour, to the point you want to scream!!! as it builds in intensity and people wonder why we snap at times!.....my poor dh! Wanta know how I KNOW he really loves me!?! He forgives me! :( poor sweet soul!
I think no matter anyones pain level, this is how it effects them at times.
I know I always felt guilty jan because I don't have nearly the problems so many do here in this group. But my pain is no less in it's intensity at times....thus the reason I find her story so hard to believe.

There is a condition where people don't feel nearly as much pain and some not at all. Can't think of it right now. I wonder if some people could walk around with a mild case of it. My grandma broker her leg and walked on it for a week. My dad had horror stories and he managed quite well.
Diabetics can't feel heat like others. And yet some feel pain all too intensely!!
What one can handle fine the next can't handle at all!

Dix.....
It's ironic to me that this woman made you question yourself.....you are one of the ones I though was just tougher than me and getting on with your life :-) :-) :-) :-)
Perception is strange....
Hugs.....jc..

I agree Manny. Bygolly, I think we are all heroes each and everyday because we do what we can do and more. Blessings to everyone. binetp

Hi Everyone,

Here is what troubles me about her story. She said she learned to fly with a broken arm.....Hello......first of all that was just down right crazy. She put herself and the rest of her team at risk because of her injury. I too pushed myself after my DX so I understand the temptation. But I am afraid I can not respect choices that put other people at risk. Hugs, Cathy

I agree with those of you who said nerve pain is worse than a broken arm. I've walked on a fractured foot for months. it hurt like hell but I was able to transcend the pain to a degree; however, I have also had nerve pain so bad I could not tolerate the weight of a fleece throw on my legs. There was no transcending that pain. It sent me through the roof. A lot depends on the kind of pain it is. I am a tough person so I've been told, but this is killing me. It is just too much all over all the time with no relief. That, I think, would wear anyone down.

I was just trying to say we all do things to a certain extent we should be happy about our accomplishments even a little one's, and I think her getting in a accident so young maybe that is why she can go on to do those things as maybe her young body healed faster or better and she was one of the lucky ones because not all are.

I am with you I dont think is she is being totally honest I think she either wasnt in CP pain and just more of a long time Acute not as long as CP and or she is still in pain but wants people to think she isnt as she is making some money

There is a theory of mind over body and meditation can help with that as has been documented in scientific studies. However, there is another theory, which is about mind-body synchronicity, and that is about listening to the body and not going beyond its capabilities.

I have been meditating for almost 20 years now, and everything I experience is putting me more and more in touch with my body's limits. I am learning to listen and follow my body, and not push it. I have learned about my body's wisdom and that my mind is often in the way of that wisdom.

As a former athletic person, I was used to pushing my body beyond its limits and I payed the price for that. It took me a year of ignoring my back pain until I realized that I could not go on. I made my situation much much worse than it could have been.

So it's all about where we are in life and what our lessons are. We are all different and our pain is different and only we know how to operate with the pain. Don't be swayed by others. Be inspired by them but ultimately, follow your own body/mind.

That is my theory and my experience and my humble opinion. LOL.
Hugs,
Ama

I feel the same Sis, when my hand flares I can't even allow fabric to touch it. My PCP described it in a good way, its like having that part of your body under a blow torch.

The pain is unreal & until I experienced it I would have never believed something could hurt so much. At its worse someone could have chopped off my hand & I would not have cared.

Its hard to believe that someone has that much control.
You can't meditate 24hrs a day. I do know mind over matter can help as god knows Ive used it many times but not to that degree.
Sammy

I really like where this thread has gone as you have all shared your experiences.

As for the article....--->journalistic fluff piece. It lacks substance, credibility, and medical detail. It left me with more questions than conclusions. Yeah mind over matter! and sunshine up your butt. She could write a tampon commercial.

I do meditate all the time while I am in pain and have to work or do an important task. I call it survival mode and I think many of you know what I mean. You get into a zone within yourself where you do what you must to get through something and you don't allow negative thought.

I guess I'm old and cranky and shouldn't be picking on the girl, but with a broken bone, there is an end to her pain in that it is likely fixable. It hurts to do it this way, so turn your hand that way and it doesn't hurt so bad. My head hurts anyway that I am alive and worsens with each breath. She has a bone to fix/but the doctors have no answers for me.

Her generalizations of pain as a total really do annoy me as she is speaking like an expert when she really knows nothing on the topic of pain.

i am happy for her and her career, but to hit points made by a lot of folks
pain is such a broad umbrella that supposedly gets categorized by 5 or 10 little faces.
there are a lot of variables in how ppl experience pain. a study a while back showed that ppl with blue eyes have a lower tolerance.
the mind is powerful and i used to do and teach meditation, but it's so hard to do when you're already in pain.
i hate that this makes many of feel like we're not strong enough or doing enough...
i read of lot of mental articles and do try to exercise in that way, but there are days when i'm in pain before i get out of bed. or wake up b/c of pain...idk. it's a huge subject like mental illness was 100 years ago and everyone got thrown in the sanitorium and that has come a long way, but still isn't an exact science.

Thanks for posting Dixie!

I have enjoyed reading everyone's replies and agree that happy for her, but I doubt that she knows what true chronic pain is. Those of us here do. I am in a major round of bone crushing fatigue or I would reply further, but have enjoyed reading.

Sending hugs, love, and comfort.

Tonna

I detect the subtle, barely-there scent that can be nothing other than bull crap sprayed with an entire can of Febreze.

From her blog post, she didn't have chronic. She had a broken arm that healed improperly and, while it may have caused her pain, the pain of a broken bone is incomparable to the pain of messed-up nerves. Basically the only thing I agree with are that emotional pain and physical pain are beasts with very different natures that interact. BUT, those create something new, like how horses and donkeys make mules. You can separate the emotional and physical components (the horse and the donkey), but you can't separate the result (the mule).

Also like everyone else on here, I'm going to say that you're not weak. Some can deal with things better than others based on personality, age, circumstances, etc., but mind over matter only does so much.

Enigma - survival mode is an awesome term. Mind if I borrow it?

The sentence that says it all is this one:

" to blog about pain, something I feel I have the credentials to do confidently"

That smacks of hubris. I don't hear a single person here ever say those words EVER!!

She has a "list of injuries reads like a list of horrors". That means every doctor that she saw BELIEVED that she had pain!!!

There is a massive difference between being told there is nothing wrong with you for forty years or more while starving to death and having measurable injuries that doctors can access.

This young person is full of pride and does not care about the harm she does to anyone else or how she will ruin a life.

I took care of children with 4 broken ribs, foot broken in many places and many other injuries. Any mother will tell you that evergy comes to do such things from whence we do not understand.

She also states that the arm STARTED to ache SIX years after the accident. Then wrongly states that it was broken all that time. THere is clearly something amiss with this timeline or the arm would have ached the entire time!

Head injuries are nororiously responsible for memory lapses. How do we know for certain that she is remembering all these "facts" accurately.

I find it totally irresponsible that she flew at less than tip top shape. No responsible person would put others lives at risk and fly in serious pain. That means it either did not hurt as bad as the nerve pain many of us have or it was not broken as bad as it sounds.

There are many holes in this story! Anyone can put anything they want on the internet. That does not mean it is true or accurate.

I think we have to all look at ourselves and consider that we are fighting a battle that this young person can not possibly comprehend.
How many of us have courageously continued one day at a time in pain that can not be described? I consider each perosn here more courageous and honest than this inexperienced person.

She is clearly getting something outta this blog. I don't believe it is entirely honest.

Just my opinion.

Standing ovation...Sunnyb...

Hey...you guys...maybe we should start a group blog....we seem to be missing out on the big bucks of having the credentials to speak confidently about pain :-) :-) :-)

Can you imagine the normals reading this thread and thinking how we all just missed the point of what an awesome, inspiring young woman this is..hahahahahahaha........I'll trade shoes with her on any given day....her worst for my best....

Hugs to all you ....jc..