“There are far too many silent sufferers. Not because they don’t yearn to reach out, but because they have tried and found no one who cares.” Richelle E Goodrich

No one on the planet wants to suffer chronic pain. It is not part of anyone’s dreams or plans for their future. When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up, or a teenager where they see themselves in the future, the answer is never “I want to live with chronic pain.”

By the time the medical profession declares your pain is chronic, you have walked a long and arduous path fraught with twists, fear, waiting, uncertainty, disappointments, dead ends, frustrations, and significant life changes that leave you feeling afloat in a strange and unwelcome new world. Pain is your new companion.

We are not our diagnosis. We are not our pain. We are the same people we were with an added burden. Your book life, of which you are the author, has taken a significant and unexpected plot twist. It is time to rethink, regroup and refocus. It is time for new ideas. It is not time to allow writer’s block or fear prevent you from continuing to add chapters to your book.

The next chapters you write will tell your story of transforming from a patient suffering with pain, with a life put on hold, to a Chronic Pain Warrior, with contentment, joy, purpose, and meaning.

Transformation is overwhelming. How do you even get started? Where do you begin to sort the multiple dimensions of life with chronic pain?  Medical professionals deal with issues with the tissues. Mental Health professionals deal with mental well-being. But who deals with figuring out life? Everyday life? With transforming from a patient in pain to a Chronic Pain Warrior?

I truly believe the best resource to figure out life as a Warrior – is with a fellow Warrior. Someone who has faced similar challenges and fought through it to figure it out. Warriors teaching Warriors. Warriors learning from Warriors. Find Your CWTCH is “by warriors for warriors”.

I have 20+ years experience as a Warrior and I continue to learn and practice every day. FIND YOUR CWTCH is the result of a passion simmering within me for many years born of the battle I experienced first hand to figure out life with chronic pain. My intent is to share my journey and the knowledge I have gained to assist you to write the next chapters of your life. I have been very fortunate to have crossed paths with many experts with a wide variety of expertise who are committed to the Chronic Pain Community and who will support us on our journey. When needed, we can tap into their knowledge.

I invite you to share what you have learned and to ask the questions, no matter how small, that only other Warriors can answer. This is a safe, inclusive and positive place where all Warriors are welcome. I encourage experienced Warriors to consider what they can contribute to the content of CWTCH.  Let’s build this together by Warriors for Warriors.