The Ups and Downs of Going to School With Chronic Pain
Before I had New Daily Persistent Headache (NDPH), I never had trouble going to school. I was a straight A student with almost perfect attendance and took rigorous classes. I never had hardships in school and everything came “easier”, especially because I was still in middle school. When I was first diagnosed with NDPH, this completely changed; I could not go to school, had trouble keeping up with my work, and could not focus during class. A task that took me 30 minutes to complete now took an hour. Because I did not know how to manage my pain and go to school at the same time, I missed school at least two times a week. This pattern occurred for over 1.5 years until I went to a pain rehab program and was able to regain my function and focus. For my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I rarely missed class and could keep up with the rigorous classes and course load. I am grateful to be back in school, but there are still challenges I face everyday due to my persistent headache.
Focusing
I have struggled with focusing ever since I was diagnosed with NDPH. In the beginning, I could not manage my pain and focus at the same time. Whenever I would focus for long periods of time, my pain would increase, and I would not be able to do work for the rest of the day or until my pain decreased. This severely impacted my work in school as I would go home halfway through the day and was having trouble finishing assignments on time. After I went to Cleveland Clinic, I learned some pain management techniques that help with focusing. I have improved my focusing skills, but I still have challenges everyday. I still cannot focus for over an hour, and have to take frequent breaks. Some techniques that help me focus are setting a timer for 50 minutes and doing work, taking breaks by getting up from my desk and walking around, and using the 20-20-20 rule (link for my post about study habits- https://stronger-than-pain.org/Blog-Post/My-Study-Habits-With-Chronic-Pain).
Pacing and Time Management
For the first 2 years of having a persistent headache, I did not know how to pace myself throughout the day. I would complete activities at the same energy level, and this caused me to crash in the middle of the day or week. My headache drained my energy throughout the day and I did not know how to conserve my energy throughout the day. After going to the pain rehab program, I learned many pain management tools that help with pacing. I still have challenges with pacing everyday. I remember to pace myself by spreading out activities during the day and taking breaks throughout the day.
Comparing Myself
I never struggled with comparing myself to classmates when I first had NDPH (especially because I was in middle school). I have more challenges with comparing myself to others when I am in high school, especially my junior year, which I am in right now. High school can be very competitive, especially during this time period when students are taking rigorous classes and deciding which colleges to apply to. I never liked to compare myself to people, but all humans do it subconsciously at some level. I tend to question “am I doing enough” , “should I take harder classes” , “am I doing the best I can?”. My illness is invisible and sometimes I forget that I have to pace myself and am doing the best I can. I have to account for my headache and that I need to pace myself so my condition does not progress and become worse.
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