"Efficient, Kind & Caring Staff"

A short while after being referred to the Pain Management Team by I was telephoned by a very pleasant member of that team. He spoke to me with respect throughout & listened to everything I had to say, & throughout the conversation I never felt rushed. He courteously corrected my belief that my back pain was due to an injury I had over 40 years ago. This got me thinking in a different way about how to manage my chronic back pain. I have always kept very positive about this pain & over the years learned how to deal with it so that it didn't rule my life . I received a huge amount of information & websites from the team (some of which was a bit heavy going), but some was very good, such as how to desensitize the pain & learning that the pain is very real & not "in my head" & that it was due to my nervous system, not the injury. A further phone call from a different member of the team helped me with the emotional aspect of living with back pain. We got on well. In the mean time a lady phoned to invite me to join a Zoom session which I declined as I couldn't make such a big commitment of a whole morning for 6 weeks. This member of the team was also very kind & caring. My mental attitude improved over the months of lock down mainly due to losing quite a lot of weight, which had a great positive impact on my painful joints. After a follow up phone call I was sent more websites to look at with loads more information & useful exercises. I was again invited to join the Zoom group, but again declined as I felt I didn't really need that level of support. After a final phone it was agreed that I should be discharged, with the understanding that I knew that they would help me in the future, should I need it. It would have been nice to see someone in person, but of course that wasn't possible due to the global situation we all find ourselves in. The only slight negative I found in the short time I spent with the team was that I felt it was all a bit of " do it yourself". I am sure this was due to the way they have to work at this time. I am sure that pre Covid, I wouldn't have felt this way, so this is no reflection on the Team. I am a positive, active person & am coping. I feel for others that are really struggling with life restricting chronic pain. I hope that are able to cope with this remote way of support. I am sure the team are fully aware of the need for "face to face" support & will return to working in this way as soon as they can. Many thanks to all the team.

Julie Edge