Painiac: The Podcast On Living Well Even When Life Hurts

Chronic pain and illness come with their own inherent stressors, and with 2020 shaping up to be one of the most challenging year in most of our lifetimes, we could all use more moments of calm and ease. This is why Shelly recorded a short, guided body scan meditation to help you soothe and relax during these trying times.

I love poetry. It reminds me of music, in away that it has its own deep language and it has the power to move you like music does. When I came across poet Camisha L. Jones’ work, I was immediately moved and struck by its power and heart. I knew that I had to invite her on Painiac to share more of her art and her story. I hope you enjoy this conversation, and I know you’ll enjoy her poetry. Accessibility: to read a transcript of this episode, please go to: https://bit.ly/3kiPeTd

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Camisha L. Jones is the author of the poetry chapbook Flare (Finishing Line Press, 2017) and a recipient of a 2017 Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship from The Loft Literary Center. Through both, she breaks silence around issues of disability as someone living with hearing loss and chronic pain. Her poems can be found at The New York Times, Poets.org, Button Poetry, The Deaf Poets Society, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Typo, Rogue Agent, pluck!, Unfolding the Soul of Black Deaf Expressions, and The Quarry, Split This Rock’s social justice poetry database. She is also published in Let’s Get Real: What People of Color Can’t Say and Whites Won’t Ask about Racism, Class Lives: Stories from Across Our Economic Divide, and The Day Tajon Got Shot. A fellow of The Watering Hole and a representative of Slam Richmond at the 2013 National Poetry Slam, Camisha is Managing Director at Split This Rock, a national non-profit in DC that cultivates, teaches, and celebrates poetry that bears witness to injustice and provokes social change. Find her on Facebook as Poet Camisha Jones and on Twitter and Instagram as 1Camisha. 

We talk about:

• The intersection between chronic pain and social justice
• Living with a chronically ill body and the grief that comes with learning how to live with a body that’s no longer like what it used to be. 
• Writing as form of release and catharsis and pain management

Enjoy the episode!

As I always say, pain is universal, it’s a part of our human experience; and Martha Beck reminds us that “Hey, if you wanted a life without pain, you came to the wrong planet.”

So, remember that we’re all in this together, OK? 

Tank you for listening, and be well.

In this episode, we explore what it means to get better. I’ve been thinking a lot about healing and recovery, and what it means to get better. Last month marked my 12 years anniversary of living with debilitating chronic pain, and this past May marked the 3 year anniversary of my most recent and most invasive surgery. When I look back at how I had imagined myself to feel at this stage, I hadn’t been able to see clearly; it was all a blur of grey. I could barely see beyond the initial hospital stay, let alone the long uphill journey of rehabilitation. When I was able to imagine the recovery, I focused my energy on the end game, the final stretch in the marathon. I imagined myself fully restored, and maybe even, if I can say it, healed and full of energy and vitality. The truth is, I don’t feel that way, well at least not yet. And I’m not sure if I’ll ever feel that way, really. Let's talk about how a life with pain isn't just so simple; it isn't good or bad, and it isn't that if we feel better we don't also feel pain. And if we don't feel pain, it doesn't mean that the wisdom of pain disappears. It's deeper and more wild than that.

If you'd like to connect about what you hear on Painiac, suggest a guest, sponsor the show, or make a donation, reach out at www.painiacpodcast.com. Painiac is a labor of love, and is and always will be a free resource for people living with pain. It costs money to produce this show and bring it to you, and I hope you consider making a contribution at www.painiacpodcast.com If everyone who listens donates $1, the show would be funded for a third season. If you can, please help me keep making Painiac. Thank you in advance!---Shelly

THANK YOU TO OUR PODCAST SPONSOR: THE LEMONAYDE APP Lemonayde makes dating and socializing when you live with chronic pain or illness a whole lot easier. Visit www.SupportLemonayde.com to learn more and to support their Kickstarter. Let's help them raise $50,000!

Do you know your rights to request accommodations in the workplace? Did you know that you even have rights to request accommodations to make your job more comfortable? I’ll be honest, I had no idea that I had these kinds of rights back when I wasn’t self-employed, and chances are you don’t aren’t in the know either. That’s why I can’t wait for you to listen to this episode where I talk all about this topic with Dr. Beth Loy, a Principal Consultant with the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a free consulting service funded by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy.

In this capacity, she leads JAN's external evaluation process and internal continuous improvement process, providing leadership to JAN's teams of service delivery and information systems. This includes JAN's outreach and education, training programs, and Website development. Beth has been with JAN since 1996 and is a member of the Management Team. Beth is a national researcher and speaker in the disability field and has a Ph.D. in Resource Economics with a specialization in social policy. At JAN, she provides research, writing, and statistics support regarding accommodation benefits and costs and the economic impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Beth is a member of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA).

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential one-on-one guidance on reasonable accommodation (RA) in the workplace, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation, and disability employment issues. Working toward practical solutions that benefit both employer and employee, JAN helps people with disabilities enhance their employability and shows employers how to capitalize on the value and talent that people with disabilities add to the workplace. This is important, as disability impacts us all. One in five American adults has a disability. (US Census Bureau) JAN is one of several technical assistance services provided by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). Its development has been achieved through the collaborative efforts of ODEP, West Virginia University, and private industry throughout North America.

https://askjan.org/index.cfm ASK JAN https://askjan.org/contact-us.cfm

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If you'd like to connect about what you hear on Painiac, suggest a guest, sponsor the show, or make a donation, reach out at www.painiacpodcast.com. Painiac is a labor of love and is, and always will be, a free resource for people living with pain. It costs money to produce this show and bring it to you, and I hope you consider making a contribution at www.painiacpodcast.com. If everyone who listens donates $1, the show would be fully funded for a third season. If you can, please help me keep making Painiac. Thank you in advance!---Shelly

Virtual reality therapy is revolutionizing pain management by offering painiacs non-invasive and non-addictive ways to effectively manage pain. Today, I’m talking with Josh Sackman, President and Co-Founder of Applied VR, about the new app Ease VR. Josh has been featured in Wired, Forbes and MIT Technology Review and has spoken at international conferences such as South by Southwest and Health 2.0, as well as The White House about the use of virtual reality technology in healthcare. AppliedVR is the recognized leader in therapeutic VR, with a clinically validated solution that has launched in over 225 hospitals across the US and in 8 countries worldwide. The folks at Applied VR are working to change pain management so that patients have access to safer, more engaging, and effective digital tools that reduce suffering.  LINKS TO LEARN MORE:

http://www.geteasevr.com/

https://appliedvr.io/

https://www.wired.com/story/opioids-havent-solved-chronic-pain-maybe-virtual-reality-can/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/reenitadas/2018/05/31/virtual-reality-the-alternative-to-marijuana-and-opioids-for-pain-management/

Painsomnia the difficulty of falling and staying asleep when dealing with chronic pain is a real challenge for painiacs. Research shows that one of the most important predictors for pain intensity is the number of hours slept the night before. If you sleep poorly, your pain will likely be worse the next day. Years ago, when the pain I live with was at its worst, I was unable to lie down flat in a bed. My back was so rigid and contorted in spasms that In fact, it was so impossible for me to lit flat that I had to get an MRI under anesthesia so that I could fit inside of the MRI machine. I would dread going to sleep at night. Whenever it would get dark, I would tense up and get nervous about the idea of trying to go to sleep. I started to develop simple practices that helped me find comfort, which started to change my sleep habits.

In preparation for this episode, I asked some of our Painiac community members to share their personal tips for sleeping well with chronic pain. I hope that this episode offers you some new and creative ways to rest better and sleep well. So grab a cup of tea or a cozy blanket and curl up while we explore the world of sleep.

What does fear do to us? Fear shows us what we do not know. When we’re scared, if we peel back those layers of fear, we usually find that we are afraid of the unknown, of outcomes that we can’t predict and unforeseen obstacles that we can’t anticipate. Pain reminds us that we aren’t unbreakable. I took a walk in the forest the other day, the moss was deep green and the trees were dripping onto the soggy leaf-strewn trail because it had just rained the night before. The question of fear crept into my mind. What are we afraid of? In this episode, follow along with me as I explore fear, doubt, and being breakable.

"When you go through pain, we all will, some way and someday, hit rock bottom, and we will find that strength to keep going and to keep moving on." In 2014, Danielle experienced an accident that left her with debilitating neck pain that became chronic. I loved this conversation with Danielle, and I know you’ll love it too. I find her so bright and full of life and strength. We talk about working and being self-employed (and being a wife and mom) while living with challenges like chronic pain, and the unexpected obstacles that arise when living with difficulties. She shares tips and tools to build your own confidence to help you feel empowered to do the work you need to do even if you are living with hard things and it feels impossible to carry on. Plus, Danielle is a former firefighter. Yeah, she's incredible! I hope you get something out of this conversation.

Welcome back to Painiac! In this short episode, Shelly kicks off Season Two of Painiac the Podcast. Learn more about what you can expect from this upcoming season!