Wednesday will be my 51st birthday, and while it's still a few days away, I thought that I would go ahead and blow out the candles on my cake and make a wish for the coming year. To be honest, I do have more than one wish, and since these are make believe candles, I'm going to be generous and give myself more than one wish this year! Once you're over 50, I think you kind of deserve more than one wish on your birthday!
The first thing that I am going to wish for is sleep. I am talking about deep, restorative sleep. I want the kind of sleep that, when you wake in the morning, you know that you've been sleeping, and you feel refreshed and ready to face the day. I can't tell you the last time that I had that kind of sleep. Due to my chronic pain issues, and a natural tendency toward insomnia, I rarely sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night, and many nights I don't sleep at all. Last night, I managed one hour of sleep - from 5:00 this morning until 6:00. Needless to say, I don't feel refreshed.
Insomnia, and other sleep issues are very common among those with chronic pain issues. According to an article in Science Daily, 80% of people with chronic pain suffer from sleep disturbances. Those disturbances range from difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and full on insomnia. Needless to say, there are a lot of people out there who are worn out. And this creates a vicious cycle; you are in pain and you can't sleep, and then your lack of sleep causes your pain to increase. We need some sort of resolution to this issue.
My next birthday wish is for the war on chronic pain patients to stop. Congress, the FDA, the DEA, and various other entities have basically declared open season on those who suffer from chronic pain issues. Now, you will hear them say that this is not the case. You will hear them say that the changes they want to enact are designed to address the issue of drug addicts abusing the system. But the truth of the matter is that it is the chronic pain patients who are suffering for the changes being enacted. Doctor's are refusing to treat patients with pain issues, and the ones who are still treating pain patients are severely limiting the treatment they do provide out of fear of losing their licenses to practice medicine.
The truth is that it is not the chronic pain patients who are abusing opioids or the system. Chronic pain patients are not looking for a high; we are looking for relief of our pain. We are not out there doctor shopping. We are simply looking for a doctor with whom we can get along, and who will help us in our quest to live as close to normal a life as possible. The people who are abusing the system are the drug addicts, and even if those seeking to tighten the noose on pain killers succeed, the drug addicts will simply get there drugs on the street. It is the chronic pain patient, who is trying to do things the right way who will truly suffer.
My final birthday wish is for not only just myself, but also for my brothers and sisters who also suffer from chronic pain issues. I wish that we each gain compassion and understanding. I wish that people stop seeing us as lazy, drug addicted drains on society, and that they recognize us as people who are suffering from an invisible illness. I wish that people would realize that this is not the life that we have chosen, and would much rather live without pain. I wish that each one of us was simply normal.
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