Company’s Calling, a popular Monday feature, hasn’t appeared for a while because I ran out of volunteers who wished to be interviewed. I would love to get the feature going again because I get emails (and comments) from people who appreciate learning how others have dealt with and who are dealing with their issues of chronic pain.
When people are living with chronic pain, they often feel alone – and we definitely know that they aren’t. Would you or someone you know be interested in sharing your story? You can remain anonymous if you would like and you can answer the …read more

This week, Janine Shepherd joins us on Company’s calling. Some of you may know her name, particularly if you live in Australia, others are hearing her name for the first time.
Janine was an Olympic cross-country skier who was training on a bicycle, when she was run over by a truck. According to her website, “Her neck and back were broken in six places, and her right arm, collarbone and five ribs fractured. Her right leg had been ripped open; she had sustained head injuries and massive internal injuries. She had severe lacerations to her abdominal area and had lost …read more

Today’s visitor with Company’s calling is not only someone who is living with pain, but someone who helps people who have pain. Serena Wadhwa Psy.D., LCPC, CADC of the TriQual Living Center has graciously agreed to an interview about her work and here is what she had to say:
What made you interested in this field, particularly working with people who have chronic pain?
There is both a professional and personal reason that contributed to my interest and subsequent expertise in chronic pain management. During my doctoral training, I worked at a pain clinic. As a therapist, it was frustrating to witness …read more

This week, our lady has a visitor again. We welcome Cynthia Toussaint, from Los Angeles, CA, founder and spokesperson with For Grace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the ethical and equal treatment of all women in pain.
She shares with us her journey with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), as she says, also known as the Suicide Disease.  RSD is more commonly referred to now as complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS.
Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
I was stretching at the ballet barre in October of 1982 …read more

It’s National Arthritis Month, so it’s only fitting that today Karen Smith joins us here for Help My Hurt’s Company’s Calling feature to talk about her sudden onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Karen is a software support consultant, from Keswick, Ontario, Canada, a very small town north of Toronto.
Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
When I first experienced the pain, it was restricted to the index finger of my right hand. I noticed it at work when I tried to do certain things such as squeeze the stapler …read more

My lady isn’t home. There was no-one to visit with.
Please keep her company next week – if you have a story to share, email me and we’ll get going on it.
For those of you who are new to the Company’s calling feature, here are some previous Company’s calling interviews:

Company’s calling – living with the pain of interstitial cystitis

Company’s calling – living with migraine pain

Company’s calling – the road to a diagnosis for endometriosis

Company’s calling – a journey with fibromyalgia

Company’s calling – another migraineur speaks out

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I was going to introduce our visitor today as a special visitor – but then again, everyone who stops by Company’s calling is special, right? But today, we do have an extra special visitor. Someone who works with World Champion cyclist Kristin Armstrong noticed Help My Hurt and offered to put us in touch. Kristin wrote this to share with Help My Hurt’s visitors. Thanks Kristin and good luck!

 
Putting a New Spin on Arthritis
My name is Kristin Armstrong; I’m 34 and a World Champion cyclist. I was also diagnosed with osteoarthritis nearly seven years ago. Before my diagnosis …read more

 
This week, we welcome Bonnie Hensley, a 50-year-old registered nurse in the Seattle area joins us. She tells me that she works 56 hours in a 2-week period (3 days one week, 4 the next) in a community hospital operating room.
She’s been an OR nurse (”all I’ve ever done as a nurse,” she says) since 1989.

Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
It was about two years ago or so, don’t remember exactly when. I was tired and achy all the time, no matter …read more

 
Jennifer, an attorney in Washington, DC, volunteered to speak to us about living with ulcerative colitis. Many people live with some sort of bowel disease, be it Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel, or others. Living with such a disease can be hard because people don’t talk about them as they might about diabetes or high blood pressure. The more awareness there is, though, the easier it might become for some to ask for help if they need it.

Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
About ten years ago, …read more

Pam, who referred to herself as a “Connecticut Yankee currently living in Israel” is another guest who lives with migraine pain. As with most migraineurs, her story is eerily familiar, yet different too.

Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
30 years ago, I was 20, home during the summer having finished junior college before going to university. I woke up late afternoon from a nap with what felt like a railroad spike through my left temple and left eye. I found my way to the door …read more