Head On Collision With A Drunk Driver

In December of 2005, my life changed forever. While driving home from work, I was hit head on by an impaired driver. While I am grateful and lucky to be alive, my life has been plagued by chronic pain. In 2007 I was started on Fentanyl and Lyrica, started receiving nerve blocks 2 to 3 times per week as well as quarterly steroid epidurals. This was for back pain, sciatic pain and severe headaches. While physically exhausting, it helped. I was slowly able to return to a new normal.

in 2015 I moved to be closer to family and had to start from scratch. I am on a waiting list to a new pain clinic, and am no longer on Fentanyl. I had been on 50 mcgs transdermal and went down to 12 mcgs. However, my GP felt it was best to be off it completely even though it was helping. So now I am left with very little, and no options. Options like massage therapy, hydrotherapy, electro therapy, acupuncture - are not covered and I don’t have the insurance or money like most.

Pain has changed my life. It dictates how I will sleep, eat, feel (mentally and emotionally), if I will stay in or go out, how I interact with others, the list is endless. I don’t feel like I am taken seriously when I present with pain to my doctor. I usually end up feeling like it was just a waste of time.

There are few options available for people living with chronic pain. Pain clinics have long waiting lists, fewer treatment options as some are no longer covered by OHIP,, doctors are against medications (even if just for acute use - break through pain), hospitals assume you just want narcotics, so it’s not surprising people are finding ways to self medicate out of mere desperation. It’s a vicious cycle.