Welcoming myself back

Well, here's a singular occasion to renew this business: the return of the Beast. If anyone's keeping score, that's two significant breakthroughs within a week. Not too much, considering the creature's batting average has run to one or two breakthroughs a day in recent winters. It's still odd to me that this nasty visitor prompts me to document its progress, considering that another nasty (depression) has kept me quiet.

We'll see where this goes. One of the side effects of this circus is that, when this isn't going on, it's peering over your shoulder, reminding you that there will be more visits. However, for the past couple of years my nasty friend has never entirely gone away. I believe this is called progression. One feels adrift in a medicated lifeboat.  (Consider that my two default medications would knock most people off their feet in the doses I take. And when I'm on my breakthrough drug, I can't legally drive.)

This brings us to another side effect, that of people peddling positive thinking, nostrums, woo and snake oil to people with chronic pain, people who are ready to try and believe anything if it will just make it stop. Even if one knows that all they have to sell is the placebo effect, that can seem pretty damn good at times.

Anyone with chronic pain will tell you that everybody has a "cure" for you, not just the snake oil salespeople. If one provides a home for chronic pain and is thoughtful about it, one learns to distinguish between treatments. There are many so-called cures that can be helpful in managing pain, which isn't the same as a cure. It would be easier to take these treatments seriously if those pushing them would be more modest about the possibilities.

Ideally, life with chronic pain disorders means being realistic, being an involved and informed patient, prepared to cross-examine physicians and surgeons, and prepared to take what comes with good or bad grace.

Not everyone is cut out for that. Americans have developed a cult of dependency upon caregivers that I think is more troubling than controlled dependency on medications. People who have had their balloon popped when dealing with a physician may have no trouble transferring their dependency to much less qualified caregivers willing to feed that dependency. This equals harvest time for the woo peddlers: more so when they latch onto disorders which have spontaneous (and impermanent) remissions that can seem to vindicate their "cures."

I'm no hero about this. Up to the time this began, I loved winter sports and was outdoors in winter as much as I was in. All that is extreme high-risk now and I resent it. This winter, I'm at least attempting occasional steps outdoors, as long as what I do doesn't maroon me or inflict sometimes troubling episodes on others.  One has to do something.

Hereafter, I think I'll concentrate on chronic pain matters here, rather than rambling. I deal with this stuff for a living now, so I have more than my own adventures for fodder. Suggestions for topics are welcome (which shows there's someone out there).