National Day of Action for Chronic Pain

American Pain Foundation
A unified voice of hope and power over pain.

First Annual National Day of Action
Saturday, Sept. 26th, 2009

Along with several well-known disorders, many rare and difficult-to-diagnose disorders share the symptom of chronic pain. September is invisible illness awareness, but it is also the month for pain awareness.

Check out the American Pain Foundation's website to see what they have accomplished, their goals, and how you can help.

Invisible Illness Week

I am a little late in posting Invisible Illness Week. It is never too late to share the statistics of invisible illness, social misunderstanding, and how many of us with chronic or disabling illness do not "look sick."

A Little Help Gives A Lot Of Hope

A Good Line

"Too many girls follow the line of least resistance--but a good line is hard to resist." ~Mae West~

"Just breathe and focus." I tried to calm my heightened, in red-alert, barely contained SPS agoraphobic panic in the airport. My heavy carry-on, filled with all my Stiff Person meds, diabetic life support, and excess shoes, rolled behind me with a stabilizing balance in my left hand while my right hand synchronized my deliberate, slow steps with my cane.

Glassy marbled floors, vast ceilings, rolling walkways, rapidly moving crowds with occasional breaks of "not a soul in sight" morphed into massive perception overload. Boundaries of carpet, walls, and chairs were my navigational lines of least symptom resistance. Lines I could not resist.

Boarding the plane, a man noticed me with my cane. Obviously thinking 'fly the friendly skies,' he said, "I'll take care of that for you, Hon." I closed my eyes to his predatory stares during the flight...his lame line this middle-aged 'Hon' could easily resist. "Just breathe and ignore."

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