No, It Is Not In My Head (ePub)

Nicole E. Hemmenway understands chronic pain. Living half her life with the neurological and chronic pain disorder, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, she overcame the "disabled" stigma to prove miracles happen. Although the disease went into remission for nearly four years, it returned with vengeance during the beginning of her senior year of high school. A fluke incident causing her to pull two tendons in her right hand resulted in a long and painful nine-year journey through the medical system. While life became lonely, tiring and redundant, she refused to believe she would be sick forever. She refused to accept the medical profession had explored all avenues and hope in a greater, pain-free future was lost. By no longer allowing the pain to define her identity, Nicole empowered herself to become proactive. Taking control of her own life was the reason she found treatments that fit her lifestyle and body. By experiencing firsthand the great strides and pitfalls of the medical profession, Nicole gained valuable life lessons of expectations and rejections. She has lived through the pain, the struggle, the hell. She overcame what doctors told her was a hopeless situation and became a survivor. Nicole views her pain as a gift and feels privileged to have had access to many medical procedures and therapies others are not. However, with this privilege comes the responsibility to bring to the forefront awareness of the many resources available for the 75 million people living in chronic pain throughout this country. She has worked in conjunction with the National Pain Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing functional recovery of persons in pain through information, education and support, for seven years. Writing articles for their website and speaking at various medical conferences around the country on their behalf has been a joy for her. She sees every talk as another way to start dialogue between doctors, patients and the health industry. For the