Awesome read Jo. I have shared it to our support group FB page and I hope that many will read it. It took me right back to those early days when acceptance was so difficult to come by in the light of "difficult" language from some HCPs. Fortunately, I had 2 HCPs who supported me, saved me from others 😀 and generally made my life liveable until I found my way again - with acceptance and a lot of help from others. Thank you so much!
Acceptance is hard. I'm still struggling with it. And it's me who isn't accepting myself. I don't agree with the individualistic/capitalistic reason as being one of the forces that makes it less easy to accept ourselves. Individualism is just a way of saying we have the right to our own decisions/lives/boundaries. But we still do live in a connected community and count on it. If we changed society it wouldn't make that much difference. If everyone accepted me I still wouldn't accept myself. Thank you for focusing on this topic though, very important and something I hope to be able to do one day.
Hi Jo, thank you for sharing your experience and reflections on chronic pain. I'm an osteopathy student and this has been a fascinating and thought-provoking read for me. Thanks so much!
The photo makes me think of when I realised I was on my own in this shit storm and had to just begin trudging through the blizzard by myself trusting my own survival skills.
The system definitely needs to change and it is changing slowly thanks to people like you. More people are listening to people with lived experience and we are being included in research. We have a very long way to go though.
As for acceptance...I can't accept the stigma and the loss of time, money and hope that accompanies every appt with a specialist or allied health except remedial massage (they tend to just rub the sore spot and listen which is great!). I can accept that I have an unpredictable condition - Cervical Dystonia - and that I have control over how I feel about it and my behaviour. If I wake up to high pain, I buckle up. If I wake up to low pain, I take the win. I try not to get really upset or super happy. Keeping an even keel about it all has worked really well for me. If it stops working I'll adapt again.
Awesome read Jo. I have shared it to our support group FB page and I hope that many will read it. It took me right back to those early days when acceptance was so difficult to come by in the light of "difficult" language from some HCPs. Fortunately, I had 2 HCPs who supported me, saved me from others 😀 and generally made my life liveable until I found my way again - with acceptance and a lot of help from others. Thank you so much!
Amazing that you’ve picked this up, Joletta. Does Cass know that you’ve written this? She’s doing great work
Acceptance is hard. I'm still struggling with it. And it's me who isn't accepting myself. I don't agree with the individualistic/capitalistic reason as being one of the forces that makes it less easy to accept ourselves. Individualism is just a way of saying we have the right to our own decisions/lives/boundaries. But we still do live in a connected community and count on it. If we changed society it wouldn't make that much difference. If everyone accepted me I still wouldn't accept myself. Thank you for focusing on this topic though, very important and something I hope to be able to do one day.
Hi Jo, thank you for sharing your experience and reflections on chronic pain. I'm an osteopathy student and this has been a fascinating and thought-provoking read for me. Thanks so much!
Many people living persistent pain or a long-term health condition sometimes think acceptance is about giving up, but it’s far from it.
Acceptance that pain / long term health condition will be an unwanted passenger in our lives seems to be the key. The key is not as big as we think.
For me when acceptance means that I am powerless over people, places and things and that I have to keep the focus on myself and recovery.
Happy New Year! Great post Jo <3
LOVED the graphics and the snow photo.
The photo makes me think of when I realised I was on my own in this shit storm and had to just begin trudging through the blizzard by myself trusting my own survival skills.
The system definitely needs to change and it is changing slowly thanks to people like you. More people are listening to people with lived experience and we are being included in research. We have a very long way to go though.
As for acceptance...I can't accept the stigma and the loss of time, money and hope that accompanies every appt with a specialist or allied health except remedial massage (they tend to just rub the sore spot and listen which is great!). I can accept that I have an unpredictable condition - Cervical Dystonia - and that I have control over how I feel about it and my behaviour. If I wake up to high pain, I buckle up. If I wake up to low pain, I take the win. I try not to get really upset or super happy. Keeping an even keel about it all has worked really well for me. If it stops working I'll adapt again.
Thank you for continuing to write! :)
beautiful and authentic as usual Jo :-)
Wonderful though-provoking read, thank you Jo. The judgement (even from close friends) around persistent pain is so upsetting at times.