Gaga's Pain Sounds Familiar

[Meruk Holland 2,294]

It sounds like its very similar to a disease my brother has. He has a kind of autoinflammatory disease like Lupus, the doctors call it FMF (Familia Mediterranean Fever) or Majeed Syndrome, but what he goes through is much worse than just what these diseases' WebMD say. The main cause of pain for him is the inflammation attacks. His immune system doesn't realize his body isn't a hostile foreign body and attacks him. In childhood, it usually affects the knees, but parents will brush it off as growing pains. For my brother, common attack sites include his knees, his eyes, and his kidneys. The last one is important because as a result of the attacks early in his life, the kidneys are malfunctioning and produce kidney stones at an extreme rate. I mean, he has 3 kidney stones a week. They get so big that he will have to go to the hospital a few times a year to get stronger pain medication and dilation medicine. Others get big enough that they stop up the kidney and it begins to shut down. That's when he has to have them surgically removed, two or three times a year. 

Any excitement or activity will trigger an autoinflammatory attack. If he knows he's going to hang out with friends or anything that involves walking for at least an hour, he will plan to not have to do anything the next day, because he will be bed ridden with pain. He has to take a cocktail of pain medications along with a new patch that gives him medicine throughout the day. His doctors have warned that he is addicted to the pain medication, and he will continue to grow resistant to it, so he will need more as time goes on to manage the pain. He is to never try and quit pain medicine, the shock of withdrawal will kill him. 

There is no cure, and treatments to the symptoms are hit and miss. There is a shot that can suppress his immune system if taken daily. This reduces the severity of the attacks, and he says they do help. However, they are stupidly expensive (I think it was $16,000 for a set of 20 shots) and if he contracts so much as a cold, he needs to immediately stop taking the shots or he would die.

A couple doctors say that the amount of medicine he is taking is toxic to his liver and eventually, it will begin to break down, and kill him.

A kidney transplant would in fact stop the kidney stones (for the kidney removed anyway, the other would still be malfunctioning), but it isn't a "life threatening" situation, so he isn't high on the transplant list. On top of that, there is a 5% mortality rate for transplant procedures, which he doesn't want to risk yet. He said he'd rather be in agonizing pain than dead. But, eventually, the strain put on the kidneys by the disease will cause them to shut down, and he will have to have a transplant, or he will die. 

My aunt also has this same disease (it's hereditary). She was a doctor before the disease became too much to handle and now she is unemployed. She takes the same medicines as my brother. She doesn't have the same kidney stone problem as my brother. Her inflammation attacks last over a week instead of a couple days, but she has them less frequently. She too suffers pain medication addiction and, like him, will eventually suffer organ failures.

My brother is 31, same age as Gaga. I've seen him have to quit many jobs because he's in too much pain to leave the house. I've seen him have to retake many college classes 3 or 4 times because he would miss too many days to be able to pass. He had to fight to get on disability for five years, and he gets audited constantly by the government to count his pain medicine (to make sure he isn't dealing them). When the problems really started to take a toll on him, he admitted that he truly considered suicide.

Despite all of this, my brother says he is happy. He won't be able to live a normal life, but he doesn't care. He has a support group of friends and family that love him and would do anything for him. And he would do anything for them, FMF be damned. 

He is the same age as Gaga, and now I see her going through a process of just being in so much pain, doctors not knowing what's wrong with her, and she is absolutely devastated. I've seen is all before, but I know she'll get through this. Because, like my brother, she has a support group of friends and family, and fans, that love her and would do anything for her. She'll be exhausted with how much energy goes into maintaining everything, she'll be disappointed when things don't cooperate or go her way, but she won't stop doing the things she loves. She's strong, just like my brother, and she won't let something like chronic pain stand in her way of doing what she loves and being happy. 

[hELXIG 43,344]

Oh wow I'm sorry for your brother's pain. That sounds incredibly hard for him  

I really hope they can find cures or permanent relief for people who struggle with chronic pain disorders like him and Gaga. Until recently I had no idea there were so many people living like this.

[Nicole 1,809]

That sounds like terrible circumstances that your brother is in. I'm glad to hear he is happy right now despite all the pain he's suffering.

I feel like chronic pain is a lot more common than people realize. It's a symptom of a variety of illnesses, many of which are "invisible" and thus people often don't notice. I suffer from chronic pain which doctors believe as a result of endometriosis, but they aren't entirely sure so they're just going with it for now lol. It's tough. and it sucks. 

I think we all just need to remember, especially those who may not be familiar with chronic pain and illnesses under that umbrella, is that what Gaga is going through at the moment is among the "worse" end of the scale. While fibro has no cure (or any chronic pain for that matter), she will have good days, she will have okay days and she'll have bad days. She may have bad weeks and even good weeks. Sometimes, she may have terrible attacks/flare ups - which is what I imagine the current circumstances to be (that is, the "worse" on the scale). They may last a long time or a short time, but eventually it will subside and what is considered "normal" will return. 

What I wrote above is based on my own experience and may be completely different for others, even Gaga, or those who do suffer from fibro - which I do not have a diagnoses of.

[Addison Rae 16,960]

I am so truly sorry that your brother has to go through so much pain. I can't begin to imagine the way you and your family are feeling, or imagine what it must be like for him to cope with that burden every day.

I wish happiness for him and your family in your times of stress and trouble. Being together will help you guys if the pain isn't curable. 

[AndrewGr 6,022]

I am really sorry for your brother and your aunt. It sounds really terrible and no one should go through this. I really like the way you describe his positive attitude towards it, his strength and courage. Many congrats to you and the rest of his family/friends for being so supportive! <3 

Spoiler

It may sound cheesy, but sometimes, love is the cure