Breast Cancer Mastectomy

I am a woman thru and thru. I am not defined by the size of my breast. I am sexy with an A cup or a D cup. I am sexy even with only 1 breast. I feel beautiful, therefore I am beautiful. A womans beauty comes from within and not from what is on the outside. I am beautiful, see me shine, I still have one left behind, a woman I am until the end, even though I am not a ten, my beauty is here, it’s now within, I am a woman till the end. Poem by: Nancy Crowell

Laura’s Foot This morning I woke somewhere between 6:00 and 6:30 AM. I do not know the reason I woke. I had only been “asleep” for about five hours, maybe less. I went to “bed” at just about 11:30 PM. I cannot see in the mornings, so everything was a myriad of light and dark, without color. I cannot hear normal sounds in the morning. I only hear a combination of ocean roar, antique radio and television static and my own heartbeat as loud as Poe’s Telltale heart. I lay there on my bed staring up, as even rolling over to get out of bed can take ten [...] continue the story

Paintings by Heather Bolinder Rachael

The newest scar looks like a 10-inch zipper starting from the base of my skull down towards my shoulders and the muscles around it ache like crazy. But my permanent nerve pain feels like bees stinging the top left side of my head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beth’s Chronic Lyme Disease

Beth, an 18 years old suffers with Chronic Lyme Disease. This is when her life turned upside down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hip Bullet

The painting below is inspired by Christine, who’s chronic pain is in her hip.  Her pain feels like a bullet going through her hip, shattering the bones causing fire like pain!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tooth Ache

Somebody asked me what chronic pain felt like.  I said ever had a terrible tooth ache that won’t go away.  Welcome to chronic pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Migraine

It was one of those days and I had a bad Migraine.  The blue face is how nausea I felt and I was in too much pain to cry. The skeleton is how dark and miserable I felt, but the c-clamp keeps tightening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More by Heather Bolinder

Paintings by Heather Bolinder Crushing Spine

This was my very first pain painting.  This is how my back feels, like two hammers are crushing down hard on it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pins and Needles

Many back pain patients get this feeling in their legs if they have a nerve/disc issues.  Feels like the pins and needles are stabbing you all over your legs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob’s Stroke

This painting was inspired by a chronic pain patient, that I have known for years, Bob.  His stroke happened two years ago and he is still adjusting to his new life.  The right side of his face feels like an empty space, is what Bob described to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephant Legs

A Painting where your legs feels extremely heavy, making it hard to move or walk. Many pain patients will tell you this is how their legs feels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ponygirl

This painting was inspired by Ellen.  She is a chronic pain suffer and was thrown from her pony.  She use to be an avid hiker, but now feels the pain of nails going into her neck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More by Heather Bolinder

To be or not, as Shakespeare said, or to live or not to live. That was the question which plagued me. I was now seventy-seven years old. Did I want to live into my very senior years, given that I had developed neuropathy which was hampering my ability to walk and causing me great pain? Then, a further question appeared; would it take more courage to commit suicide, and avoid the painful future which would include a lessening of my faculties, both physical and intellectual, and would include requiring someone to look after me, or to choose to live, and accept the years and changes to come, as a challenge?

I had always been healthy, strong, and independent. Thus the concept of not walking, and needing someone to look after my daily needs was an anathema to me. The neuropathy had probably been developing over many years, as I can now recall getting tired faster, and not being able to walk as far. Also there appeared a numbness and tingling sensation in my legs, along with pain up my legs and into my back. As well, the tingling had begun in my fingertips. So now fear really set in. How long [...] continue the story

By Sophie Lee January 10, 2010

I’ve had irritable bowel syndrome for 20 years, and I’m angry. About the pain, and the suffering, and the limited diet, and the huge impact that it has had on my life. But mostly, I’m angry at my doctors. No, they didn’t misdiagnose me. No, they didn’t harm me. No, they didn’t treat me like dirt. But they still made me angry.

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: I know that IBS is difficult to treat. Try to help an IBS sufferer and you are presented with an unholy mess of anti-diarrheals, laxatives, fiber supplements and anti-spasmodics, and that’s before we even start arguing about which diets might be useful. So I don’t expect my doctor to cure me. I don’t expect a miracle.

I know that IBS patients are “heart sink” patients; that doctors dislike our visits because we’re so tough to help. I understand that it must be horrible to have patients who you don’t know how to cure, who are begging for relief you can’t provide. It’s not the physical treatment of my IBS that has made me angry. It’s the way that I have been treated as a person.

I have [...] continue the story