| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
n/a
560 Posts |
 Posted - 10/18/2005 : 04:04:15
|
The Ottawa Sun is doing a 5 part series on "chronic pain." It appears from this 2nd installment that this poor unfortunate woman has TMS. Note the sentence that is a giveaway: "She went to one specialist after another -- travelling to Toronto, Montreal and New York, and had every scan and test modern medicine could offer."
======
'I wish I'd die'
A Life of Pain: Day 2 in a special 5-part series
By HOLLY LAKE, Ottawa Sun - Oct 17, 2004
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/ChronicPain/2005/10/17/1265469-sun.html
Audrey Forster is nothing if not blunt.
"I just wish I could die. I make no bones about it. I live in hell."
If someone put a pill on her bed table and said it would make everything go away, "I would take it without a second thought,"says the 80-year-old. "I have chronic, acute pain without a moment of respite. There's no pleasure in my life."
An entrapped pudendal nerve has robbed her of that.
It first made itself known in April 2000 as Forster wrapped up a "swish" luncheon. As the wife of a naval officer, it was one of many she and her husband had hosted in their years together. After cleaning up, she sat on the sofa for a breather.
"When I got up, I felt a bit uncomfortable underneath," she says in her proper British accent.
At first she thought nothing of it, but it gradually got worse. She went to one specialist after another -- travelling to Toronto, Montreal and New York, and had every scan and test modern medicine could offer.
"Nothing showed up. They said there was nothing to see," Forster says.
Only to feel.
Always healthy and active, Forster was someone who moved briskly. Her pre-pain existence saw her walk two miles daily, a ritual that ended last October when a mile-long jaunt left her in agony.
Today, the frail woman spends her days in a twin bed, propped up by pillows. The only sound that breaks the silence is that of a fan oscillating at the foot of her bed.
One wall of the bedroom is comprised of two large windows and a patio door -- offering a vast glimpse of the world she can only watch go by.
On a small table covered in medications, tissues and books, sits a phone. It's her only contact with the outside world. But even that is limited, as talking exacerbates her pain.
The war bride used to meet friends twice a week to play bridge. She and her husband entertained regularly. Now eating a meal at the table is a distant memory.
"I haven't been able to sit for five years. That's a terrible fate. It means your social life is completely cut off."
Forster's many friends have also evaporated over time.
"I find people in the beginning are very compassionate,"she says. "The cup of compassion flows freely. As time goes on, the flow is slower and slower, and smaller and smaller."
That's the sad reality for many who are limited by chronic pain -- not only do they hurt, they become isolated.
Adding to Forster's anguish, this past January, her husband passed away. Two of her closest friends died suddenly a few months later.
Now the two chairs at the foot of her bed are usually empty. Forster finds herself completely alone. She wakes at 5 a.m. despite the drawn-out day ahead.
When she initially opens her eyes, there are some pain-free moments, "But as soon as I move a leg to go to the bathroom...."
For the most part, her human contact is a support worker, for whom she pays out of her own pocket, who arrives each morning and stays until noon to help with meals and chores.
Another arrives at 5 p.m., but Forster says the hours between the two seem never-ending.
She has no family here. Her brother and sister-in-law are an ocean away and unable to travel, as they're in poor health. She can't even go to her pain specialist. The doctor must come to her.
It's a devastating reality for a woman who was very healthy all her life. She ate the right food and only occasionally had a gin and tonic. A career woman until she turned 65, Forster never counted on spending her golden years in bed in misery.
"I don't know where I'm going, but I'm very afraid,"Forster says. "There's no hope ... No family. Nothing. I'm in absolute agony. Agony. I just want to pass out and stay out."
-
Dr. Ellen Thompson, an Ottawa anaesthetist who's treated chronic pain for 25 years, says when severe loneliness and chronic pain are married, it becomes difficult to treat.
It's often compounded by doctors skeptical of the terrible pain the patient complains of.
"They look at that person and say it really can't be that bad," says Dr. Roman Jovey, president of the Canadian Pain Society. "It makes things worse. They've got this pain and nobody believes them. It's no surprise patients sometimes take matters into their own hands."
While there is limited data on suicide rates among those with chronic pain, an article by a University of Florida psychiatrist eight years ago estimated the rate is likely double or triple the rate of the general population.
And certainly thoughts of suicide are more common, given at least 50% of chronic pain patients also have depression.
U.K. research has found that mood disorders and anxiety are three times more prevalent in people with widespread pain.
They go very much together, but it's unclear which comes first -- depression or chronic pain.
"That's the ultimate chicken and egg question," says Dr. Angela Mailis-Gagnon, director of the comprehensive pain program at Toronto Western Hospital. "(But) once you have depression, you're much more vulnerable to develop chronic pain."
While data may be lacking on increased suicide rates, Dr. Harold Merskey, professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Western Ontario, says it certainly makes sense.
Many of his patients complain they can't have friendships the way they used to. Their personal life is destroyed.
"It exacerbates things for them and humiliates them. They feel diminished," Merskey says. "I haven't seen a lot of suicides among my patients, but over the years I have seen quite a few marriages that have fallen apart."
Among children, studies show chronic pain can leave them emotionally distressed with a heightened sense of vulnerability. Low self-esteem and behavioural problems are also common.
But Dr. Patrick McGrath, a psychologist at IWK Health Centre in Halifax and the Canada Research Chair in pediatric pain based at Dalhousie University, says many children and adults can find ways to cope.
"It takes a lot of courage to do that," he says. "I think it's a mistake to think every child with chronic pain is suicidal or depressed. They're not, but (that thinking) makes it worse for them."
THE TOLL
In 2001, Dr. Dwight Moulin of the University of Western Ontario's Interdisciplinary Pain Program surveyed 340 chronic pain patients:
- 49% of respondents reported great difficulty attending social and family events
- 61% were unable to participate in their usual recreational activities
- 58% were unable to carry out their usual daily activity at home
- In a 2004 survey conducted by The American Chronic Pain Association, more than half of chronic pain sufferers reported that their pain interfered with their ability to work
- 45% said it hurt their personal relationships
holly.lake@ott.sunpub.com |
|
|
Scottydog
United Kingdom
330 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 15:43:31
|
I would say the sentence that is a TMS giveaway is
"as Forster wrapped up a "swish" luncheon. As the wife of a naval officer, it was one of many she and her husband had hosted in their years together."
We occasionally "host" meals for friends but, yes, my husband does the hosting but I DO ALL THE HARD GRAFT!
Anne
Scottydog |
 |
|
|
n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2005 : 02:25:57
|
What a sad story, Peter. I looked at the article and the picture of the lady in bed made me want to send her a copy of MBP.
Something that annoys me when the newspapers do a series on pain conditions - there have been quite a few similar series in Britain recently as well - they seem to focus on all the negativity and hopelessness of the patients and the shortcomings of the medical community. They very rarely think 'out of the box'.
If we can find lots of good information on the internet and in books about psychological/physical connections, why don't they? Whatever happened to good investigative journalism?
Thanks for posting the article
Anne
|
|
|
|
HilaryN
United Kingdom
879 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2005 : 04:16:25
|
Pete, did you contact the journalist?
Here's the email I'm sending to the journalist:
Dear Holly Lake,
I read your article in the Ottawa Sun, and thought you and Audrey Forster might be interested to hear about the work of Dr John Sarno, who is Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, and Attending Physician at The Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University Medical Center. He has successfully treated thousands of people with chronic pain - his method is unorthodox, but it works.
I myself have not attended one of his clinics - however, I have cured myself of chronic pain by reading one of his books, "The Mindbody Prescription" and applying his technique. It wasn't an instant cure - it took me about 6 months to be able to return fulltime to the activity which I thought was causing my pain (typing and using the computer mouse). But I am now able to type/mouse fulltime. I had had RSI for over 10 years.
See the following links for more information about this subject:
http://www.mindbodymedicine.com/index2.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/478840
Yours sincerely,
Hilary N |
|
|
|
n/a
560 Posts |
Posted - 10/29/2005 : 04:25:22
|
Yes I wrote her and I encourage others to write her also. Also write other jorunalists who are writing about "chronic pain." It is up to us all to get the word out because no one else is going to do it.....Take for example this defective artice in the leatest issue Psychology Today called "The Pleasant Truths About Pain":
http://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20050808-000004.html
Letters to: letters@psychologytoday.com |
|
|
|
pault
USA
169 Posts |
Posted - 10/30/2005 : 06:33:57
|
| I sent out a letter. thanks , Paul. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Another sad example of TMS and doctors not knowing
