Hi Judith,

Not quite sure what to say aside from “we ‘live’ in the same place.” Thirty years for me . . .

Saw a surgeon yesterday, and I will be heading back for a third shoulder surgery in the next few months. What is “good” about orthopedic problems is that, when you see bone grinding on bone in an x-ray, you really can “see the pain.” And post-surgically, someone who has literally been sawing through, grinding, and planing down your bones can’t possibly doubt that you’re in “genuine” pain.

I have started turning off the radio or TV anytime anyone says, “the opioid crisis.” I just get too angry. Ditto for when I try to talk to “people in authority,” who invariably wheel out, “Of course, we want to make sure that people in GENUINE pain are not negatively effected by these ‘safety rules.’”

We don’t know each other well enough for me to descend into the kind of profanity-laced tirade that ridiculous lie triggers. They don’t know what chronic pain really is, these people; they don’t understand “where we live.” It’s just . . . enraging.

Thanks for responding,

Don