Last year on my birthday I wrote about my experiences with bullying.  This year I’m writing about the elephant in the medical profession’s closet: chronic pain.

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I am a human being with hopes, dreams and goals.  Some of these have been forever altered or have become impossible because of my chronic pain.  You see, I’ve had chronic back pain for three years this fall and have yet to receive even a diagnosis.  My pain starts in my lower back and migrates up to encompass my entire back all the way up to between my shoulders after only a few hours of being awake.  My knees have an almost arthritic ache and occasionally pain shoots down my right leg, making it impossible to walk normally some days.

Luckily I was born in Canada so I have not become bankrupt because of my illness.  I have had X-rays, an MRI and multiple physical exams.  I’ve been to chiropractors, massage therapists, orthopaedic surgeons, physiotherapists, back pain specialists at the provincial clinic and multiple GPs.  I’ve had orthotics, massages, special exercises and chiropractic treatments and nothing has helped.  Some things like the physiotherapy (which I did for nine months) made things worse than ever. Continue reading →