Chronic Pain is Wrecking My Life
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Thanks for listening to my Call of the Day podcast. You can hear my live radio program Monday through Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Sirius XM Triumph 111. Teresa, welcome to the program. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Teresa. How can I help?

How can you help? I need your guidance on how to deal with chronic pain. I didn't discover until I was 29 that I was a thalidomide baby. Oh, you're kidding. How old are you? 62. 62.

I was a kid when they said thalidomide was bad. Why was your mother taking it? It wasn't taken off the market. I don't know. I wasn't around. I was. Life magazine had, oh, my God, I'm so sorry. So what did thalidomide do to you? Well, I was conceived in 61, and they didn't take it off the market until –

After, I don't think she took it for a very long time, but when it was approached to me, I kept on having miscarriages and there was no explanation. So I have three little angels in heaven, but...

So anyway, I can't speak for my mom. She's not here. And it wasn't until I was losing my son, which they were able to intervene. And so the long story short is... What year were you born in? 62. 62.

And they took it off. That's when Life Magazine had the big spread on the horror of thalidomide. I was conceived in 61. Got it. Okay. And it's amazing how many doctors have no idea what thalidomide is. So, anywho, almost 40 surgeries later, I have...

extreme chronic pain. I don't know life without pain and I haven't since 1993. So, but now that I've gotten older and I've had a double mastectomy and I now have bone issues and I have a bone in the very lower, lower, lower, almost to my tailbone and both outside joints are fused. Um,

I just discovered from Duke University that I kept on complaining I had more pain, and they kept on saying it was muscular. Long story is Duke said, above the rod, your back is deteriorating. And I go, so you'll put another rod in to support it. He goes, we can't because your bones won't be able to handle it.

So what I'm trying, so he basically told me I'm on, I walk with a cane. I walk like I'm a little old lady. And I have now gotten a wheelchair. I'm just trying, I mean, people are always like, oh, la, la, la, la, wanting to know, how are you doing? And the more they ask me,

the more it's in my forefront when I try. And my comment always is that there are people with worse troubles than I have, and I try to keep that so I can keep a positive mindset because there are worse people than me. I'm just trying to figure out.

Is there anything else? What is a mantra I can have in my head as I continue? Because I spend about 40% of my time during the day in bed because it's actually more comfortable for me to lay down in my adjustable Tempur-Pedic than it is to do much of anything else. Did you know that skin care can start in the laundry room?

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Thank you.

Well, let me, at risk of being yet another annoyance, I remember reading, I wish I had read them more carefully now, some articles on some brain stimulation and

That is what they're looking. Well, Duke, when I first went to them and they saw all my surgeries and, you know, I don't heal well, which is I had my double mastectomy and I had 11 surgeries.

because I kept on having carotid tissue. So after they did the flap going from the back to the front, that was for nothing because it ended up becoming all infected and they kept on having to cut things away. You know, you're the last person in the world who should be asking anybody about how you cope. Look what you've coped with. I don't think we can tell you anything more than how you have faced this.

Well, yeah. I don't think I would have had the fortitude you're describing. Are you kidding? I don't believe so. You're a tougher woman than I believe I probably would be. So I don't think I have anything to offer you other than you're impressive to go through all of this hell and to sound like you do with the attitude you have and the compassionate warmth that comes out of you when you talk. I mean, you're amazing. I don't feel amazing.

That's fine. We don't want you to get a fat head and be conceited, but you are amazing. Well, my biggest thing is my biggest fear is being a burden to my family. Of course. But let's get back to Duke and the brain stimulation because you realize your back doesn't hurt. It sends messages up to your brain, and your brain translates that into pain. Okay. So I have a topical TENS unit.

that I use all the time. And how is that any different than Duke originally said that they were going to put an internal simulator in. Right. But then when they got all my testing back and realized how messed up I am inside,

They kind of dropped the ball. So I have an appointment with my pain management doctor, and he had mentioned it. Is that a neurologist? No. Okay, you need a neurologist who is involved in doing things like this because this is cutting-edge stuff, and it sounds like this is something they ought to think about with respect to you. So maybe you've got to squeeze yourself out of the box sometimes

of their negativity and feeling like there's no place for you to go well that would be something i would want to invest my time in pursuing so i'm not an md so i can't help you with that well he he was an anesthesiologist and okay we need a neurologist not an anesthesiologist okay okay yeah neurologist

Okay, see, I didn't know any of that, so I'm glad. Yes, get a neurologist who has expertise in stimulation of the brain for pain. Look it up, Google it, and then get busy getting the right person. Promise? Oh, I'm going to look it up right now because I always knew everyone that I know who have tried one. The majority of them said it didn't work for them.

And the minority, and the minority, and the minority, it worked for them. But what I'm saying is I don't know if they went to a neurologist or if they were going through a pain management doctor. Well, go to a neurologist because they studied brain and nerves, okay? Right. I always go to the person who studied the issue.

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