{"id":3663,"date":"2011-02-14T06:28:37","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T10:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2016-11-16T09:52:16","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T13:52:16","slug":"chocolate-vicodin-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/3663\/chocolate-vicodin-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate & Vicodin<\/i> Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It would have been easier if I’d been hit by a truck. Then I would have a story for how it began… But I wasn’t hit by a truck, or even a Volkwagen Bug. I was hit by a headache.” So begins the\u00a0funny and\u00a0informative Chocolate and Vicodin<\/a>, <\/em>told by the excellent story-teller Jennette Fulda.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennette recounts the story of developing a 24\/7 headache, which\u00a0she learns is now named\u00a0“New Daily Persistent Headache.” She relates the saga of searching for a cure, which turns into\u00a0hoping for any tiny measure of relief. The evaluations – doctor visits, blood draws, CT’s, headache diaries –\u00a0go on and on.t one point, she\u00a0 receives a call from a doctor’s office to confirm an upcoming appointment, but doesn’t recognize the doctor’s name.\u00a0“Who was Dr. Reiner and where was he going to stick a needle in me?”\u00a0When\u00a0the office reminds her that Dr. Reiner is her dentist, she writes, “It was official. I had more doctors than I could keep track of.” Chocolate and Vicodin <\/em>also recounts the treatments she tries – medications, infusions, chiropractor visits, acupuncture – the mix of which\u00a0threatens to become a full-time job.<\/p>\n

Jennette’s story is an honest telling of a life\u00a0with\u00a0chronic pain. Her headaches nearly take over her life. There is\u00a0the pain itself of course, but also getting lost in the wilderness of treatments, suffering,\u00a0and a diminished life. She tells\u00a0of her experience with\u00a0directness and\u00a0humor. She lies to her doctors. She still eats a lot of chocolate, which can be a headache trigger. She has some of the best metaphors for pain that I’ve read – her headache is “an\u00a0invisible\u00a0tiara of nails.”<\/p>\n

I won’t reveal how the story ends, but Jennette also explores coming to terms with chronic pain. She writes, “Instead of living in <\/em>pain, perhaps I could learn to live with <\/em>pain, as if it were my partner instead of my master. It would\u00a0always be there, but I didn’t have to let it boss me around.” This book would be a great read for anyone with headaches themselves, or with any\u00a0type of pain. You’ll not feel so alone, and you’ll laugh. For those with a\u00a0family member or friend in\u00a0pain,\u00a0read this to\u00a0better understand the pain experience.\u00a0Jennette will share with you what it’s really <\/em>like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“It would have been easier if I’d been hit by a truck. Then I would have a story for how it began… But I wasn’t hit by a truck, or even a Volkwagen Bug. I was hit by a headache.” So begins the\u00a0funny and\u00a0informative Chocolate and Vicodin, told by the excellent story-teller Jennette Fulda. Jennette […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3663"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7720,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3663\/revisions\/7720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.howtocopewithpain.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}