Writers:
- Marion
- Nikesh
- David
- Colin
- April
Name: Marion
About me: I'm in my mid-fifties and live with my husband on the Eastside of Lake Washington in the Seattle area. I’m a former academic researcher and now I work as a writer and volunteer. I'm passionate about helping people come through challenges and create better lives.
Experiences with Pain: Fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, knee and ankle injuries, osteoarthritis, back injury, Sjogren's Syndrome
Before I had cancer, I did a lot of hiking, backpacking and rockhounding. I also enjoyed a martial art, armored medieval foot combat re-creation. Over the years I had repeated ankle and knee injuries, plus the occasional back injury. I've re-conditioned and healed a great deal, but I have to be careful to stay in shape and not aggravate old problems. Staying flexible and maintaining good balance is important to me.
Around age 30 I began to have trouble with dry eyes, eventually diagnosed as Sjogren's Syndrome. Although my case is mild it requires that I actively manage dry eyes, nose and mouth and sometimes other symptoms. People with Sjogren's also have a higher risk of lymphatic cancer.
At age 35, I was diagnosed with Stage III Hodgkin Lymphoma. I underwent a chemotherapy regimen called ABV-MOPP. Thankfully, the treatment cured the cancer, but left me with fibromyalgia, osteoporosis and peripheral neuropathy in hands, arms and feet. Managing these and other aftereffects of treatment is a life-long commitment. I walk and do yoga to stay in shape, and still go hiking in summer.
Osteoarthritis runs in my mother’s family and I have it in my neck, knee and hands. My sister also has fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis.
I choose to manage my pain as much as I can with alternative therapies because I tend to experience side effects from drugs. Fortunately, there are many other ways to approach chronic pain!
Why Hurt.com: Making a commitment to Hurt.com lets me share what's worked for me, so that the knowledge can help others get a head start. Learning to work with practitioners, make lifestyle changes, engage with remedies and treatments and understand research is powerful "medicine" for managing chronic pain.
Favorite Pain Management Web Sites:
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/default.htm
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/pain/chronic.htm
http://www.sjogrens.org/home/about-sjogrens-syndrome/living-with-sjogrens
Na
me: Nikesh (Nickname: Niki)
About me: I am father of two, living in Seattle, WA. I am passionate about technology (electronic, cleantech and biotech), life-long learning, philosophy and sports which tend to be very hard on the knees – namely, skiing, volleyball and running.
Experiences with Pain: Knee Pain
I experienced irreparable knee injuries very early in my life as a ski instructor in Western Massachusetts in high school. Ever since, I have had to be very careful in exercising and conditioning my right knee. I have been largely pain free for the last ten years, until we had children. Carrying my children regularly re-aggravated my knee, causing a lot of pain particularly when skiing or playing volleyball. Since my kids are a bit older and I am a bit wiser about not carrying them, my knees are feeling better. The doctors were largely unhelpful when it has come to treating my knee. I have relied mostly on physical therapy, my own conditioning and stretching, and a bottle of Advil.
Interestingly, four women in my family have had knee replacement surgery over the last 6 months. My mother, my mother-in-law, and two of my aunts are all in their mid to late sixties and have dealt with knee pain for more than five years. After trying numerous alternative treatments, they all threw in the towel and decided to have surgery.
Why Hurt.com: I am hoping to facilitate sharing experiences and knowledge around pain management and connecting pain sufferers with the right providers or treatments. Pain is a complex ailment without a clear answer for most, as pain manifests itself differently in every person.
Favorite Pain Management Web Sites:
Medline Plus Guide to Pain
About.com Guide to Chronic Pain
Name: David 
About Me: The first time my issues with pain got serious was while playing junior high football. The second time was while playing high school football and tearing some cartilage in my right knee. This was repaired by removing the torn pieces a couple of years later while I was at the University of Washington.
Moving forward in time some thirty years, I had a motorcycle accident that severely injured the very same leg and knee joint. This time however, the injuries were much more severe and took several procedures to fix it up functionally. The recovery time is also much greater, in part to my being older this time around and the seriousness of the damages.
The doctors told me to expect continued improvements over the next nine to eighteen months. Ah, how the three months on crutches, completely non-weight bearing keeps you from maintaining muscles and strength. You don't really understand what that means until you experience it. I sure didn't - not in the least.
It has taken quite a while, but I can now walk without mobility aids, ride a bicycle, and mow the lawn for the first time since last July ( I overdid it this weekend and collapsed in a chair, exhausted). There is not a marathon or Iron Man race in my near future, but I can see real progress, thanks to my family, doctors, and therapists.
My favorite pain and information sites on the web are:
WebMD.com for general purpose information
BrighamandWomens.org for specifics about orthopedics
Name: Colin
About Me: Native of pacific northwest, currently residing in Portland Oregon. I am a traveler, a Buddhist, and a lifelong soccer player/fan. I have an affinity for hurting myself.
Experiences with Pain: I grew up a competitive soccer player and was injured around the age of 18. I was given anti-inflammatory medication, told to go through physical therapy and I would be fine. Seven years, thousands of dollars and 25+ doctors later I have never been given a concise diagnosis or a cure to the back pain I constantly find myself in. This is a struggle I continue with as of today.
Why Hurt.com: I felt it would be a good opportunity for an outlet and a chance to connect with others in similar situations. I hope my experiences will resonate with others and perhaps will be able to offer some insight.
Personal Blog: http://painperception.wordpress.com/
Favorite Pain Management Web Sites:
http://www.dancingwithpain.com/blog
http://www.spine-health.com/forum
NAME: April
AB OUT ME: Very much into Alternative Therapies, Yoga, and Meditation. I enjoy spending time with family and friends, reading, writing and being out in nature. I spontaneously research topics that come to my mind, as I like to stay informed.
EXPERIENCES WITH PAIN:
“The Trusty Arm”
Who likes to cook? I do most of the time. I vividly recall four years ago, rushing around in the kitchen to get breakfast on the table for my family. I wanted to make what we all consider a “Sunday” breakfast. Well, since at the time, my son was only one years old, I kept a baby safety gate up at the kitchen entry. I had the most wonderfully cooked breakfast made and ready to serve.
So, I like to believe I am not your average server. No, I am the ‘All mighty super mom super server’ right. I take not one, but two plates, one in each hand. I also have a tall cup of orange juice tucked inside my inner elbow on the right. If you can visualize that, I then attempt to step over the baby gate with two plates and a cup of orange juice in tow. The top of my right foot didn’t quite make it over the baby gate, and so I completely lost my balance. As I destabilized, there was no way for me to break my fall and since I was holding so much, my right shoulder had to break my fall. Ouch! My right shoulder slammed into the ground and the last thing on my mind was how much pain was to come from this injury.
I started to get chronic pain radiating through my right shoulder at night, it was sort of a burning sensation in the beginning. I noticed that my pain would come in waves. The pattern of when my pain would emerge was every few months. Since my pain was so seldom in the beginning, I found myself dismissing it or thinking it would just go away. After a year of having shoulder pain every few months, I noticed the pain occurrence had shifted to every month for a couple days long. I do not recommend ignoring chronic pain, or toughing it out, but that is what I did for the first two years and it was because my pain would come and go.
Mentioning my pain began one year ago at a regular yearly medical check-up with a Family Physician doctor. I brought up my concerns about my shoulder pain and surprisingly I didn’t get much response regarding a diagnosis. After my yearly medical check-up, I self referred to a Sports Medicine doctor to get an x ray of my shoulder. I remember being so excited when I went to see the Sports Medicine doctor. I thought, finally I am going to get a diagnosis and treatment options. X rays were taken, the doctor then told me that the x ray only shows bone, not tissue damage. So, I was told that nothing was fractured. That was good news to me for starters. However, I was told by this particular physician that the reason my pain would only surface a couple days a month is because of the water retention that women experience. She prescribed me a diuretic to decrease water retention. I chose not to try the diuretic she prescribed to me because I wanted the chance to look into Alternative therapies. I started reading books and doing a little research on Alternative therapies.
I started doing gentle stretches on my arm and shoulder, using smaller weights at the gym and naturally going easy on my arm. Over time, I notice my pain slowly decrease in frequency and duration. I also came across a sample of Tiger Balm, which created a cool, tingly sensation for pain relief. Tiger Balm is a balm made by a Chinese herbalist and is an analgesic remedy for pain relief. I found it to be a good product. Please check with your doctor before using Tiger Balm or any product though. To find out more information about this product, please visit: www.tigerbalm.com
WHY HURT.COM: I wanted the opportunity to share my experience with pain. I also wanted to share tips from how I dealt with pain. I believe there is more than one way to find pain relief and I believe in getting second opinions. Writing for hurt.com is a chance to share information, solutions, and to discuss the many remedies out there for pain relief. Although, I am highly interested in Alternative medicine, I do recognize the importance of seeing your regular Physician and taking medication as necessary.
PERSONAL BLOG: Feel like a dose of inspiration? Visit my personal blog at: http://www.myspace.com/goldenhotti/blog After reading a few of my blogs, you will need to ‘Click’ the ‘More’ button at the bottom to keep reading each blog entry, since there are several pages.
FAVORITE PAIN MANAGEMENT WEBSITES:
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-management-alternative-therapy
http://www.allalternativemedicine.com/
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/pain-relief-without-pills