A quiet corner for
chronic pain
Keeping you company in the moments you feel betrayed by your body and trapped in your mind
Inspired by
chronic pain fighter and friend, Luigi
“How do you live in pain…every day?” Luigi Magione asked me, stunned.
I was telling him about my 20-odd years of experience as a chronic illness patient fighting upstream in the healthcare system. Dozens of doctors, countless ER visits, so many scans and medications — I know, it sounds kinda bleak.
As we bonded over our shared experience of living in chronic pain, we found in each other a friend who didn’t need words to understand. And who appreciated the healing power of a cotton candy sunset.
So I dedicate this project to friends I already know, like Luigi, and to people I have yet to meet and call friends.
This work is also for our loved ones who wish to better understand and help. Your support is essential, and I hope this project can bridge the gap in understanding and empathy.
Your (new) friend,
Maggie
Hey, wanna talk about…
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Chronic stress eats you alive
I mean, this site is called “stressed sick” for a reason. I learned to meditate my way through emergency rooms and MRIs, and like teaching others the underestimated skill of calming the fuck down.
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10/10 pain and ER frequent flier status
Preparing for and healing from multiple surgeries for endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and adenomyosis. My treatment in the US and Canada for excruciating pain that’s not “all in your head.”
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A fucked up back and chronic pain
From herniated discs to compression fractures and five-alarm sciatica, here’s my journey with ~20 years of chronic back pain. Oh, and a missed diagnosis that almost led to spinal surgery.
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Long COVID brain fog and blank stares
COVID melted my brain and made me forget words. Which, as a writer, is less than ideal. Here’s how I fought back against a neurological glitch and re-trained my brain.
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Lyme disease isn't deep in the backwoods
If you start bumping into walls and can’t see straight, don’t just look for a bullseye. Look for the tiny assholes hitching a ride on you (and your pet). Disease-spreading freeloaders.
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Caregivers — you're not alone
This is for the loved ones trying to help, but not knowing how. I’ve been a patient and I’ve been a caregiver…this is how I translate chronic pain for non-native speakers.
Meet Maggie
Hey. Hi. You can call me Maggie. Or Mags. You pick.
Thank you for visiting and spending some time with my words ☺️
I was inspired to start this project to connect with patients and caregivers who may feel failed by the healthcare system.
I’ve lived with chronic pain daily for nearly two decades, white-knuckling it through university lectures, work days, and a social life.
Frankly, I wish this kind of site wasn’t needed
But living with chronic pain or illness isn’t like healing a broken leg or being sick with the flu. When friends or coworkers ask if you’re “feeling better,” it’s actually quite hard to explain to them that you’re not. And you might not be.
In a way, what I’m writing about here are things that I either said (or wish I had said) to my friend Luigi during those in-between times of struggle and stillness.
These are things I wish I could talk about with you, a new friend, in the quiet corner of a coffee shop. Trading war stories of fighting upstream in a broken system that’s failing not just us as patients, but our health providers and communities. Until we can grab that latte, here we go!
Your friend,
Maggie