Word to The WearyIn this episode Teresa chats to Martha, a long term sufferer of chronic pain and fatigue. They share a little about the search for a diagnosis, weight related issues, the need to be believed and management of the condition. Martha is a family friend who is adored by many as a local school worker and “Lollypop Lady”
So our first episode… As the point of the podcast is to interview people with pain, share their experiences, the highs and the lows, I decided it would only be fitting (and fair) if I were the first victim.
Interviewed by my wonderful husband, we talk through how it started for me, the confusion, the slow creeping realisation I had something that wasn’t going away and feeling of being abandoned. We discuss some coping strategies I have come to use, discuss the anger and frustration of having a “hidden” disease and talk about knowing what to accept and what to fight.
As this is our first episode I feel I must apologise for the length, just short of 55 minutes. This is the edited version. I blame brain fog and that’s the story I’m sticking to.
I do hope you enjoy this my first episode and you get something useful from it. My husband tells me he’s gained a little more insight into what it’s like to live with one of these conditions
Remember, say NO to camping!
The podcast is based on my own and others experiences with pain, fatigue, treatment and its effects on the sufferer, their family and their friendships. The podcast and website are not a self-help manual and the experiences of others will not be yours. My hope is that some of the lessons myself and others have learnt on our journeys will chime with your own and provide some ideas and perhaps even solace.
Pain is a necessary part of how the body works, when it goes wrong it can become exhausting, debilitating and all consuming. Your body is full of pain receptors so as you’d expect there are a huge number of ways pain can become your companion.
Chronic fatigue is perhaps the most debilitating condition a human being can suffer without physical symptoms. It can come on it’s own or be the product of pain. Often misunderstood, fatigue is a hard to explain to others
As I write this, in the twelve years since my issues started, I’ve had over 50 investigations and 500 test results across four separate disciplines and departments of the health service. I have had two incorrect diagnoses, multiple scans, pain management courses and I rattle when I walk with the pills I take for the condition and the pills I take for the pills I take for the condition. I still don’t have a diagnosis.
My journey is not over.