My pain management story

 A challenge prompt by Hinge Health.

What is your story as it relates to pain?

I had an accident when I was 10 years old. 

How and where did it begin?

My father had finished a project at Damuan Park for the Ministry of Labor. The park is located along Jalan Tutong, which is a short drive from the heart of the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. My father was very proud of his work and wanted to show the landscape of the park. There were different playground equipment at the park. I decided to glide through the zip line. Unfortunately, the second time around, the zip line was stuck. I begged my father to pick me up before I fell. He told me to hold on while he took a photo because I looked "so cute" despondent. When I fell 10 feet from where I was, I felt my bones crack. The shock wave from my left leg to my hips was so intense, I screamed. I cried when my father demanded me to get up. My mother tried to lift me up, but I refused to move. Every inch of my bones were sending pain everywhere. Eventually, his friend told him to take me to the hospital to ensure nothing was broken. My father was very upset, so he shoved me upright and pushed me to walk. When we arrived home, I laid in bed and cried myself to sleep.

What obstacles or setbacks have you faced?

I learned from a ballet dance teacher that I was not fit to dance in her class. It was the year 1990 and my youngest sister was 4 years old. She told our mother that she wanted to be a ballerina. We went to a dance studio and attempted to enroll my youngest sister and myself. The dance teacher was a tall and lanky European lady. She looked at me and my sister. She then told my mother that she couldn't teach me to dance ballet. My mother got upset at me for being an ungrateful and difficult child. The dance teacher reciprocated with disdain, "Mrs. Yap, your daughter is a pleasant person. Let me show you something that is very important for ballet dancers." She asked me to bend down to touch my toes. She pointed at the fact that my skirt was not aligned to the floor. "This slanting must be corrected or I cannot enroll her for ballet." My youngest sister was upset that she had to miss out on becoming a ballerina because of my injury.

When I was helping my munitions squadron unit move a pallet into a truck sometime around 2003, they heard a loud pop. They paused for a moment to have quality control check the device, but the colleague next to me said, "I believe it's coming from Sciulli." I told them that I was fine. They decided to let us put the pallet down. They asked me to walk. I fell when I tried to move a step. They wheeled me on an office chair to the unit vehicle and checked me in to the emergency room. After getting an x-ray, the chiropractor asked if I had any recent injury. I told him that I didn't recall a recent injury that would have affected my knee because the car accident I had a few months prior to this incident was on my arm. When he asked if I had a childhood injury, it triggered the memory I had when I was 10. He sympathized with me on how unfortunate that my parents didn't attend to my wellbeing. He showed me the x-ray and pointed out that I had been walking without any meniscus. The popping noise that we were hearing was coming from the articular cartilage rubbing against my patella. Whenever I walk or bend the patella on my left leg doesn't stay in place. It moves up and down, thus making the popping sound. I was advised to no longer lift anything heavier than 40 lbs.

In which areas of your life have you notice progress?

Since my current job requires me to be sedentary, I needed to change my activity level because the pain was becoming too unbearable. It took so many years for my primary care doctor at the VA to listen to my concerns regarding the pain I was experiencing. On December 29, 2022, I had a second opinion from a different doctor, Dr. Efthimiou. He finally gave a name to my chronic condition. I was suffering from polyarthralgia. When I gave this information to my primary care doctor, she referred me to a chiropractor and an orthopedic doctor. I began working with Hinge Health professionals in July 2024 to help me manage my pain. 

They encouraged me to take one step at a time and assured me that it was okay if I missed some days performing the exercises. 

Do you notice differences in your body? In your pain?

My body is able to move without feeling any pain. The pain I experience is no longer as debilitating as it was since Dr. Efthimiou's diagnosis. Whenever winter season comes, the pain isn't as noticeable as it was. The pain is there, but it can be mitigated with Advil instead of Naproxen. I am a useless creature when I take Naproxen.

How would you write the last chapter of your pain story?

I would write the last chapter of my pain story with a hopeful epilogue.

What did it take to get from the beginning to the end?

It took a lot of audacity, perseverance, and courage to find people to attend to my concern. I'm grateful to be surrounded by empathetic doctors and professionals to show me the right path to a healthier lifestyle.

How do you apply 'movement is medicine' to your life currently?

I remind myself to pace my day. When the barometric pressure is very low, I cannot fight it. I'm not at the stage where I need to use crutches or a walking aid, but as long as I'm constantly moving, I can manage the pain better.

What has been your biggest takeaway so far since starting this program?

Caring doctors really do exist.