In 1990, my life was in the dumpster. After being injured in an auto accident in 1989, I'd been subjected to all the worst the American health care system has to offer. I was misdiagnosed. My medical care was mismanaged. My insurance company went out of business and left my bills unpaid. I was living with intense pain and deep depression and no help seemed to be coming from anywhere.

I was desperate for someone that would help me find healing. And then something wonderful happened.....

I discovered I could be that person!

The day I determined to be my own advocate is the day I began to recover.

It wasn't easy. I had to overcome all my "be a nice girl" training and let my inner bitch shine forth. I had to stop politely waiting for doctors and physical therapists to give me help and start demanding it.

I had to push myself beyond my pain so I could get out and around to anyplace I might find information.

I read books in my local library. I bought cheap books in used book stores. I read expensive books I couldn't afford to buy while propping myself up against the shelves in Borders and Barnes & Noble.  And I took notes and tracked down whatever I could find that might help.

I was a guppy and a guinea pig for anything that promised relief. I spent thousands of dollars and tried anything, no matter how outrageous or nonsensical it might seem, in pursuit of pain relief. And bit by bit, I began to recover.

It wasn't easy. It didn't happen overnight. And there were many,  many days--years even--when I didn't think life was worth living. But eventually I did make it through to the other side. Not a side where my life is all rosey and wonderful and problem-free. But a place where I have, without question, a life worth living.

Part of my journey to recovery was learning to help others with the information I gathered. I became an organizer for a now-defunct self-help organization for people living with chronic pain. I taught workshops wherever I could find free space, and spoke as a patient advocate to groups of doctors and nurses.

My chief value to others, at that time, was as a source of information. In the early 90's, the internet was not yet much of a resource, and pain patients were pretty much in the dark when it came to learning about treatments, both authorized and alternative. And so were many health care providers.

You'd think all that would be different today, when the largest library in the world, the internet, is available to almost everyone. But that vast expanse of information brings its own challenge. Not too little but too much information is the problem!

No one can find it all, sort through it all, read it all. And certainly it's not easy to attempt this while you're in pain.

That's why I've begun publishing Pain-Health-News. I collect links to news and resources all over the internet, sort out what I think may be most useful and post it in monthly listings. And I'll occasionally write an article or send a special email about things I think are important.

As the site develops, I hope to add a forum so we can share what we  experiment with and experience.

No matter what the source of you pain is, you'll find something here to help. And if you don't, let me know.  If I'm aware of a particular problem, I'll do my best to search out resources for solving it. You can contact me by clicking here to open a pre-addressed email form.

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