How Chronic Pain Has Changed My Life

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The Analytical Essay: Chronic Pain Changed My Life Chronic pain is an invisible disability that is often misunderstood. Those that suffer with constant pain struggle simply to function. Several years ago, like many, this is a topic I knew very little about. Unfortunately, that reality changed, after a car accident on December afternoon in 2003, and was extremely intensified by a head on collision in February 2012. Since then, chronic pain has greatly impacted my life; the things I am able to do, the things I can no longer do, the profession I had hoped to be involved in, the one I am currently pursuing, my moods and relationships. I have always viewed myself as a person with a positive, persevering personality. I have tried to maintain this, but I must admit at times it has certainly been a struggle. After the lady drove through the stop sign, that December afternoon and our vehicles collided, I thought I would soon be back to normal. Imagine my dismay, when several months later, I was still in much pain. I had whip-lash and had also been diagnosed, with fibromyalgia, "wide spread, migrating, often debilitating pain" (Fibromyalgia Society of Ontario). I spent much time going to physiotherapy, massage therapy, hydro therapy, gentle touch chiropractic care, acupuncture, nerve blocks, rhizotomies (burning of nerve endings) on my neck and shoulder surgery, as a result of this car accident. Several years later, while not pain free, my pain was controlled, by medication, and had eased. I was trying to cope with a new normal kind of life. Before the accident, I had enjoyed participating in karate, horseback riding and bike riding. These activities along with others were now a thing of the past. Another thing that had also changed was my career path. I had hoped that when my youngest child entered school, I would go back to school as well, to pursue a
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