Pain

Living with chronic pain for over 40 years has taught me valuable lessons. Realizing that millions of Americans share this unkind challenge, I wanted to share practical ideas I found to be quite helpful. The basis of my chronic pain is fibromyalgia and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). My body has generalized pain as well as localized pain along with fatigue. Pain is a constant companion. There are times the pain is worse and I call these flare-ups. For me TMD occurred due to a displaced disc in the right jaw. One doctors theory is that my body had to accommodate the missing disc and fibromyalgia developed. My journey with pain and fatigue began when I was a college student and has progressed through marriage, motherhood, full-time college instructor, and now a retiree. Through the years some doctors told me that my condition is all in my head. I felt the guilt of not being a better daughter, wife, mom, teacher and friend. I work hard to turn frustration into living well with chronic pain. While I live with the pain of fibromyalgia, I believe many of the ideas shared in this book are helpful in coping with pain caused by other conditions. My purpose is to present strategies I have used to cope with pain in the hope that you will have one of those ah-ha moments of thinking, that might work for me too! Knowing the very act of reading may be painful, I purposely wrote each topic to stand alone in a concise format. A challenge is given at the end of each topical piece to invite you to consider similar ways of taking control of your pain. Please do not be overwhelmed and discouraged if an idea does not work. Use what works for you and use your imagination to think of other things you can do. Remember, I have been at this for over 40 years. For me, nothing happened overnight. I am constantly refining ways to help me cope with pain.What I have learned about myself and my pain is the basis for this book. My wish is that you too will find helpful ways to improve your life in spite of the pain.You deserve to live well, even with chronic pain