In 2011, I was struck with extreme pain. After a year or more of visiting doctors and many tests, I was finally able to learn to manage my pain. I wrote a series of posts about my journey with chronic pain on my family blog in 2015.
Encouraged to put them in a book, I have moved these stories to my public blog and am in the process of writing a devotional to encourage other chronic pain warriors.
My Journey with Chronic Pain.
Table of Contents
- Introduction – Learning to be still
- Embarking on a Chronic Life
- Suddenly Still
- First Signs of Fibromyalgia
- Bouncing from Doctor to Doctor
- HOW CAN I HELP SOMEONE WITH CHRONIC PAIN? (Free Printable)
- My Experience at Mayo Clinic
- Medications and Good Tips for Fibromyalgia
- Is there a Cure?
- Pain & Trials – It’s All Relative
- Waiting Patiently for a Diagnosis
- Grieving My Former Life
- Celebrate His Promises
- How I Found Refuge Through Chronic Pain
- Laughter Really is the Best Medicine
- Learning to Push Past Pain and Produce Passion
- Knee Problems
- About Life’s Interruptions
- What’s the Difference Between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis?
- Learning to Speak Life Through My Pain
- Preparing for Daughter’s Wedding
- Pros and Cons of Prednisone
- Ultra-sound-guided Occipital Nerve Block
- June 2021 – Acquired a Neuroma of the Foot
- July 2021 Bone Scan Finds Osteoporosis-OP
- September 2021 – More Tests for OP
- January 2022 – Shingles
- August 2022 – Osteoporosis and My Teeth
- November 2022 – Treatments for Osteoporosis
- April 2023 – Finding New Doctors
- July 2023 – Fluoroscopic Occipital Nerve Block
- August 2023 – Total Reverse Shoulder Replacement
Current or New Issues
- Knee Replacement
Do you have a question to ask about my illness?
I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about my illness. It may give me direction on what I should write about. Just put your question(s) in the comment section below. Thanks
I had my first occipital block yesterday. I had fusion surgery 6 wks ago…and in the past year have had a variety of 6 blocks. I’m praying the occipital block will be the answer, because I’ve been told by two surgeons that any surgeries would not improve my pain or mobility. Can you recommend a neurosurgeon at Mayo-Jacksonville I can visit for another opinion? It will be over a two drive for me to go there, but at this point I need the BEST neurosurgeon I can find! Enjoyed your article very much, and it gave me a ray of hope! I am concerned about the block done yesterday because I have experienced NO numbness!? I have read that I should have immediately after the procedure. Today I see a little lightening of the pain, but very little!! I guess I need encouragement because I’ve
tried so many things in the past and am really worried about dealing with this the rest of my life.
Hi Fran! I sure pray that you can find some relief. Dr. Mark Hurdle was my surgeon at Mayo Clinic. It may take months to be approved and see him, but I love him so much. He actually goes around the world training surgeons to do this procedure. The procedure was easy to deal with and kept me pain-free for months. Mayo is no longer accepting most medicare advantage insurances, so I had to find another surgeon. They directed me to the Jax Spine and Pain clinic which happened to have a branch near Savannah where I live. (Pooler) I liked the doctor there, but he does the procedure with live x-ray instead of ultrasound. Dr. Hurdle also recommended Dr. Hegarty in Savannah who also uses x-ray. I like ultra sound better but the xray procedure has been helpful also. I wrote about that too. (fluoroscopic nerve block).
I hope this helps.