Mayo Clinic Pain Rehab Center (PRC) - What’s Your Experience?

It doesn't help we are living in days of the caveman as far as research goes in the U.S. Oddly enough the only money the U.S. will pay for is to find fault with cannabis, never for positive research. Almost every study ever done to show damage has been disproven or challenged. However saying that, some of these limited often bias studies have shown that it does not work for everybody, and there are in fact some side effects and some drugs interaction just like every other medication. Some of these include CBD not just THC. Biggest one being a blood thinner like many spices. The good news is there must be a drug that works for you, given this one doesn't. Or a couple in tandem that might work. My dad had extreme anemia after trying just a salve, being on a blood thinner. Getting older everything changes, so we might need to change our intake and slow down on things. What ever works even if it's just music, fresh air, a loving pet, warm bath, or ice pack for a few minutes. There is relief!

Hi Alan @alh123 - you're welcome. Thank you for letting me know you've been accepted into Mayo's Pain Rehab program!🤩 I'm very happy for you and the opportunity that awaits. And I'm proud that you are persevering despite doubt and apprehension. Having the mindset to try is where it all starts. Great job! Great news.

The next step, as you mentioned, is waiting for availability dates. Please keep me posted.

Have a happy Friday!

@alh123 Hi Alan, I've been thinking about you. How are things progressing with PRC? Were you able to communicate your concerns, after being accepted? Hope you are hanging in there during the busy holiday season.

My time with pain management was a nightmare. I became fed up to the point extreme pain was better than the pain clinic, I stopped all pain meds and will never set foot in a pain clinic again.

Hi
I recently had my gallbladder removed and I am suffering with a deep ache in my chest area and a spasm in my left rib cage. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Today is 14 days after the op and my incisions are healing well. I think the pain is worse when I eat and it lasts for hours after the smallest portion of food.

Greetins:
The PRC saved my life in 2010. I was taking 300mg of morphine, and 100 mcg of fentanyl. I was scared to go, but I am still alive. By February of 2010, I knew that I was dying. So, we went. I was there for almost 5 weeks due to the amount of opioids that i was taking. Oh, I experienced a spinal cord injury in February of 2006.

Cognitive Therapy, Biofeedback, stretching, exercise as permitted, PT & OT with all the love and support you could ever hope to find. Get your life back...I got part of mine back. Mobility and pain issues continue to increase as new challenges have arisen. It's not the cards we are dealt, It's how we play the cards.

You will come out the other side and you too may get a second chance on life.

Larry Bricker

@ldb, Larry I appreciate you returning to Mayo Clinic Connect to share about your experience at the Pain Rehab Center 13 years ago!

Would you mind sharing a few more details? What is one tip you would offer someone thinking of applying for PRC? After 13 years, what habits or learnings from PRC do you continue to use daily?

Colleen:

Over the years, when we are at Mayo for a few days of appointments, I sometimes make arrangements to get over to the clinic, and talk with students. Does us both a lot of good.

Cognitive Therapy is probably the #1 skill for me, everything else builds on. Do things to keep the brain busy.

My #2 PRC skill is moderation, and believe me this is hard. I hope that when you feel good, you can do things, but don't over do it. I broke that rule my very first day back home after the PRC. I am a slow learner. Lol

My #3 skill is Biofeedback. With some of my recent challenges, this is a skill that I must improve upon. I bought a feedback unit last week, and am getting back into this.

The PRC is a "Total package" experience. If you are scared, so was I. You can do this, and you will get your life back. It's not the cards that you have been dealt, it's how you play those cards. I get up and move everyday. You will have bad days, so accept that. We have to move, to keep moving. Hope this helps.

Hi Larry, it's so nice to meet you and learn that you are a fellow graduate of the PRC. I join @colleenyoung in appreciation of your contribution on Connect.

I graduated October 2020 from Jacksonville and am always looking for fellow PRC'ers to share their positive experiences with members of the Connect community. 13 years out and still singing praise! I think that is a testament to the lasting impact the PRC has on lifestyle changes, and one's overall well-being and self-management.

Please allow me to introduce you to @tallyteresa who is also a PRC graduate and thinks the program should be taught in high schools because it's that valuable. It definitely is a total package experience, one that completely transformed my life and out look on life.

It's very cool to learn that when you return to Mayo, you speak with students still. I also am a graduate guest speaker and agree, it does me just as much good as it does them. Which Mayo Clinic location do you visit?

Greetings

We live 3 hours S
outh of Rochester Minn, so we make the trip up there frequently. I have been blessed with almost 14 years of relatively good health. The past 2 years, new challenges have come into play. My original spinal cord injury developed into Adhesive Arachnoiditis. Then in 2017, I was diagnosed with Central Sensisitation Syndrome which is now impacting all my sensory nerves. WOW. Walking and standing can be horribly painful, and I have lost 95# the past 2 years. Last month, we met with the resident expert at Mayo who deals with this. It is coming down to what I can do to manage the symptoms. You have to be a little hard headed, to keep pushing, but I will. Having another procedure at Rochester in late June, so we will see what they determine.

We have to keep moving and always take it 1 day at a time. As my doctor told me, "you have a forest of problems infront of you. We can only tackle one or two trees at a time." Live each day to its fullest and 1 day at a time. Never stop to count the bad days. Look with hope into every new day that God gives you. No one answer to surviving chronic conditions, other than looking for joy, peace and hope in each new day.