Anna's interview
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How did all start?
From a botched ESI when I was only 16. She punctured my Dora and did a subarachnoid injection, resulting in immediate constant severe pain that NEVER went away.
Do you already have a diagnosis? How long did it take you to get it?
It took me almost 22 years.
For what medical specialties have you been treated? What has been the most useful specialty for your?
Finding a good medical (not interventional) pain management doctor that would research my condition and not push more harmful ESIs on me.
What has been the most useful thing for you so far?
Doing my own research, becoming my own advocate, and learning that I cannot ever trust doctors. They don’t ever have my best interest at heart, only their own interests as well as money.
What have been your biggest difficulties?
The fact that doctors cannot be trusted.
How has your social and family environment reacted? Have your social or family relationships changed?
Everything changed for me. I never got to experience what being an adult was like without pain. I’ve been in pain every moment of my adult life. I’m now almost 38. 22 years of constant excruciating pain will change absolutely everything in your life.
What things have you stopped doing?
Almost every physical thing that I love. I had to stop working at 36 indefinitely. I can’t have any more children even if I wanted to.
What do you think about the future?
I’m scared.
So far, which years have been the best years in your life? What have you done during them?
The best years were before this all started at 16.
What would you like to do if you didn’t have your condition?
I would like to experience what it feels like to live without always being in pain. That’s all.
If you had to describe your life in a sentence, what would it be?
Debilitating
Finally, what advice would you give to a person in a similar situation?
Do not EVER get an epidural for any reason, nothing is worth living this way forever. Nothing is worth this kind of pain with no end in site and no cure. NOTHING.
