Living with chronic pain
Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis
What I’ve learned about living with chronic pain is that it doesn't have to ruin my life. I think for a long time their pain was such a focus in living with arthritis that it potentially could have stopped me from living a full and active life, but with seeking out a range of really good treatments I found that I could live with my pain and that it wouldn't necessarily stop me from doing as much as I wanted to do with my life.
Unpredictable pain
Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis
I’ve learned that pain is unpredictable and a fickle friend it is something that I can't predict I don't know within a day what my pain will be like let alone day to day I can't predict the triggers I can't predict the location I can't certainly predict the severity or the duration of that pain and because it's always changing it can make living and planning life quite challenging at times but I think with the right strategies for pain management in place I’ve certainly learned to live with that changing pain presentation so that I cannot make it the dominant feature in living my life but more of a secondary factor.
The power of positive thinking
Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis
I think the mind has a very powerful role to play in living with a chronic condition like arthritis and the chronic pain that comes with that disease I think that if you are overcome by feelings of negativity or depression or grief and loss that I think that that can really stop you from moving ahead and making the most of living your life despite having a chronic illness. For me one of the best things that I’ve learned in my journey living with arthritis is the power of positive thinking and I know some people think that can sound a bit you know trite and a bit frivolous, but I actually think it's a really powerful tool to have a positive mindset
The effect of chronic pain on others
Wendy Favorito, living with arthritis
One of the biggest challenges I’ve learned living with pain is how it affects my mood and again this was something that took age and maturity and insight to become aware of that when I was most cranky and irritable coincided with the times when my pain was at its worst and as a single person living away from family I could be cranky and I could hibernate and I could you know have a foul temper and it didn't affect anyone necessarily but when I met my husband and got married and then we went on to have children it really highlighted for me that I needed to do something about how I managed that crankiness and so part of that was then being really vigilant about all of my pain management techniques but it also taught me that I needed to be really open with my family and particularly with my kids so from a very early age I’ve said to them mummy's not cranky with you you've done nothing wrong I’m just in a lot of pain at the moment and that's why mummy is like this and so my children now who are seven and ten will look at the expression on my face and say are you tired mummy are you cranky are you in pain and they've got their set questions that they can now run through so that they can gauge whether they've actually done something wrong it's just that mum's in a lot of pain and therefore feeling tired and cranky. So, I think pain it doesn't just affect the individual it affects those people immediately around us and for me having my own family now was a huge motivator to really get my pain strategies in place.
