After working in all aspects of nursing for several decades and as a community carer for the last ten years, I thought I knew what pain was all about. I was wrong!

 Due to injuries received in an accident at work in 2008, I have been left with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in my left foot and lower left leg. This syndrome is characterized by neuropathic type pain and it is like no other pain I have ever experienced ‘yes that also includes child birth’. Some of my symptoms of CRPS include from extreme sensitivity, burning, electric shocks, swelling and sweating.

 My life as I knew it has stopped. I went from a very active and fit lifestyle to now having to live with persistent pain day and night. Complex Regional Pain Syndrome if diagnosed early enough can be treated with excellent results. Unfortunately I was not one of those people. I was sent from one health practitioner to another - GP, specialist, rehabilitation and physiotherapists for nine months of inconclusive results.

Finally I was given the correct diagnosis by a pain specialist, who then referred me to a pain management clinic (PMC) lasting five weeks. The PMC was very informative; it gave me awareness about accepting and coping with my pain and aspects on learning to self manage my pain and a better quality of life. Many other management strategies were also covered by this program. It is my belief that PMCs should be more accessible to people suffering from chronic (persistent) pain. This situation could be made easier by having more programs available, hence less waiting time. This would be something all pain sufferers could benefit from.

After leaving the clinic I once again felt very isolated with my pain when being told ‘no’, there is not any type of support group in the community that ‘my pain and I’ could benefit from. Realizing there was a great need here, I became involved in the creation of a Health Promotion Charity (APMA) which provides community services for others with chronic pain.
Leading peer support groups certainly helps me with the self management program I learned at the PMC. We encourage each other to keep living and learning better ways to deal with everyday problems which can seem very large when you are living with chronic persistent pain.      

 “You cannot change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future”.