Most will say Chronic Pain is not the PAIN that is the most PAINFUL, but the PAIN is the PAIN of losing those you love and the life altering changes we have no control over. In a world we live in - there is much happening and no time for discussions, but plenty of time for judgement. This causes friends and family closeness to erode more than most think. The patient isn't ASKED, but Assumptions are made. And usually they are wrong. While studies support firmly, the best healing for a patient of any kind is support - it is lacking in the Chronic Pain era. But as time passes, we are seeing this in other long term illnesses, which is still called Invisible Illnesses. Support can be a simple note or a few minutes or a few hours or a day of a visit, a chore, an errand...and the relief it gives the patient or caregiver is tremendous. There is more effected by this health issue than just the patient, which is sometimes easy to forget. Reality? Healing for the family is done when all are loved and supported. Then everyone wins.
