Path to pain relief

JUDY FOREMAN'S article "When pain arrives - and help does not" (Health/Science, Sept. 15) really hit home. About four years ago, when I was 14, I began suffering from severe lower back pain after what should have been a minor fall. It became chronic, and it crippled my life: I couldn't go to school; I couldn't even get out of bed. At times I needed a wheelchair to get around.

During a trip to a pain clinic at a well-known area hospital, I was informed that it was "psychological," and I just wanted attention. My parents and I were shocked at the clinicians' lack of understanding and the assumptions they made. It wasn't until I got an appointment at New England Baptist Hospital (which Foreman praises) that things turned around. Not only did the doctor easily diagnose a problem (premature degenerative disk disorder, with nerve irritation) that had baffled so many, but he then spent more than an hour explaining what it was to my parents and me, and recommended a course of physical therapy to desensitize my nerves.

Other hospitals and medical institutions need to start paying attention to New England Baptist, because they are definitely doing things right over there when it comes to how they treat their patients.

R. JAMISON
Concord