Video – Book Plug with Tom Bowen “Chronic Pain won’t Stop Me”
Welcome to Book Plug – for our first ever Book Plug we are delighted to be joined by patient advocate and author Tom Bowen – to talk about his book “Chronic Pain won’t Stop Me”.
The video of the event is available below, it was held on the 22nd April 2021.
Chronic Pain Won’t Stop Me!
Hello, my name is Tom Bowen. I’ve been living with chronic pain for more than a decade. It took me years of bouncing between doctors, tests, and surgeries before accepting my chronic pain and finding the tools (both medical and non-medical) that work for me to champion the pain. I was fortunate to attend one of the few outpatient multi-week interdisciplinary outpatient chronic pain programs in the United States for non-cancer/end-of-life pain – the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center in Rochester, MN.
Many thanks to the Mayo team for helping set the course for my journey and providing the the tools I needed to take my life back. Learn more about my experience at Mayo Clinic and how comprehensive pain treatment can help. I highly recommend the Mayo pain program.
Unfortunately, not everyone has been as fortunate as myself to attend a program like the one at Mayo Clinic. Thus, the reason for this book and the Facebook support group I manage.
The content in the book is based on my personal experience, beliefs, and research in hope of helping others in their journeys to champion their own pain. It introduces the reader to the the biopsychosocial approach to managing pain, encouraging them to visit with their doctors about non-medical options and explore more intensive rehabilitation at a program like the one I attended. Use the book as a patient or as a practicing professional as a guide for your clients. A quick and easy read, the book explores some common themes: Pain is an experience, not a number on the pain scale. Pain doesn’t always mean harm. Not all pain will go away – we need to accept it.
Medical interventions alone aren’t the best or only way to manage pain. Pain is multi-dimensional with biological, psychological, and social factors. Just treating the pain is not enough, we need to treat the whole person. How we think about pain affects our pain. Our goal should be pain management and rehabilitation, not pain elimination. We can have good lives, despite the pain. The book is available as a free PDF download. I collect nothing from the book other than the joy of helping others and using my past work skills.
Get the book here:
Video of the Book Plug – Tom Bowen “Chronic Pain Won’t Stop Me”
Help keep Footsteps Festival free
Can we ask a favour? If you find value in any of the Footsteps Festival events, a small “pay as you feel” donation would be gratefully received – this means we can keep it free to access.
Follow us on social media
