To Whom It May Concern:

If you are reading this, you or someone you know is struggling with chronic pain or you want to know what it is like to deal with chronic pain. Chronic pain is not a thing of the imagination. It is real. I know this because I live with it on a daily basis. Any one with chronic pain will tell you it always hurts. It is just a matter of how much. Often people with chronic pain will not complain about the pain until it is above an 8 on a pain scale of 1-10. One stands for not any pain. Ten is unbearable and I would rather be dead right now the pain is so bad. Never tell someone with chronic pain that they are a hypochondriac. Be understanding. Sometimes it helps to understand the story behind the person's chronic pain. No one ever asks for chronic pain.

I certainly didn't go asking for it when I went camping with friends on November 14, 2014. If I knew that I would come home from that two day camping trip with a back injury and chronic pain, I would have never gone. I remember that two day camping trip better than any other memory I have. Why you may ask? My response is "who would not remember a day that changed their life forever and lives with the daily reminder of it?" It is hard to forget something that has completely altered the way you live your life.

I remember the day we left for the camping trip. We left at 5:00 in the afternoon. By the time we got to the campground, it was dark. It was too late to do anything that night so we set up camp and had dinner. I remember I had slept on a rock that night. I was so uncomfortable I woke up about two in the morning and ended up sitting by the fire because I couldn't sleep.

Morning came eventually. After taking down the tents and had sufficiently enjoyed breakfast. We sledded on some of the small dirt hills near the camp. We felt free. Next we explored some extensive mud caves where some places you had to crawl on your stomach to get through. With such a strenuous adventure, all of us needed to take a break and do something less strenuous before we tackled our next cave. It was about 11 am. We decided to do some more sledding. This is when disaster was waiting to strike. We were all enjoying ourselves, until it was my turn to go down the mountain. I didn't realize that I had gone slightly higher than the rest of the girls and slightly off of their path. That was my first mistake. I didn't realize it at the time but that would be a decision I would regret for the rest of my life.

I got on my saucer to sled down the mountain. As soon as I started to sled down the mountain, I quickly realized my mistake. The dirt was rock hard. Within the space of a yard, I lost completely and utter control of the sled. All I need was it to be knocked from my grip and that is exactly what happened. No sooner had I lost control of my saucer, I hit a bump. It probably happened in a matter of seconds to minutes but to me the tumble felt like it took hours to days. I shoot into the air a little bit and started my tumble down the mountain. I heard something snap it felt like in my neck. I felt my neck fly back and forth at the will of the mountain. I felt a sharp pain run through me toward the beginning of the fall. I hit my head in the middle of the fall. and blacked out. I could still sense the fact that I was tumbling and falling out of control. After I blacked out I had no idea where I was in relationship to anything. I tried to scream but it wouldn't come out. All the sudden, THUD! I came to a screeching halt. Slowly I came back to my senses. The last thing that I did was open my eyes. I told myself I have to be dead. In my head, there is no way I should have survived that fall. If anything, I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life. I remember clearly that even before any of my senses even came back. My thoughts were racing. I though for sure I was dead or at best paralyzed.

Slowly my senses returned. I remember clearly my sense of feeling returning. I was laying at the foot of the mountain on my stomach. I felt paralyzed because I could not move for a little a bit because of the pain I was in. The pain was sharp and excruciating. It felt like someone had taken millions of scalding hot knifes and they were all tearing upward in my back. I wanted to cry. I opened my eyes and laid there for about five minutes, just regaining my breath. Finally I made the effort to get up. To my shock and amazement, I was not dead or paralyzed.People told me that they did not want to know how I executed the twists and turns. They flinched thinking of how I did it. I was told I turned into a old person in a matter of seconds. I was told by some they were not sure how I made it out alive. To this day, I cannot tell you why am still moving as well as I am. I was thankful I was not paralyzed. Unfortunately, on the rough road back to civilization. my whole right side of my body locked up as if it was paralyzed. I went to go look out the window of the dusty blue van we were in. As I turned to watch the scenery, I made a horrifying discovery. I could not turn my head. No matter how hard I tried, I could not look out the window. I was terrified thinking I was paralyzed. I couldn't help but cry out in pain. Needless to say, it was a long road to recovery. I will not go into the full story of recovery. That is a story for another day. To the unsuspecting person, I am a normal person who lives a normal life. Most people with chronic pain want to live as normal of a life as possible. Let us do that. "I enjoy the pain." said no person who lives with chronic pain ever. Just know, if you live with chronic pain, know you you are not alone. There are people out there who understand what you are going through.

Sincerely,

Chronic Back Pain Victim