Currently Accepting New Clients!

Chronic Hope Counseling and Community Center
Chronic Hope Counseling and Community Center
  • Home
  • Counseling Services/Fees
  • Groups
  • Jen's Chronic Pain Story
  • Meet the Team
  • Why Therapy For Pain?
  • Spoonie-Owned Businesses
  • Upcoming Trainings/Talks
  • FAQ
  • More
    • Home
    • Counseling Services/Fees
    • Groups
    • Jen's Chronic Pain Story
    • Meet the Team
    • Why Therapy For Pain?
    • Spoonie-Owned Businesses
    • Upcoming Trainings/Talks
    • FAQ
  • Home
  • Counseling Services/Fees
  • Groups
  • Jen's Chronic Pain Story
  • Meet the Team
  • Why Therapy For Pain?
  • Spoonie-Owned Businesses
  • Upcoming Trainings/Talks
  • FAQ

Jennifer Sutton's Chronic Pain, Lyme Disease and Ehlers Danlos Story

Girl playing tennis

The Beginning

When I was 16 years old I was a normal healthy teenager, I was ranked first on my school's tennis team and was very athletic. I had always ached and struggled with minor pain but it was never anything serious. When I returned to tennis my senior year everything was different, I couldn’t move like I used to. I started playing all of my games wrapped in braces and struggling to be the player I used to me. This pain increased and continued to get worse over the next few years until I could barely make it through the day. The pain and fatigue was overwhelming, it felt that it took all of my energy to just exist. 

Lyme awareness shirt

The First Diagnosis

When I was 22, I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, it was a relief to finally know what was wrong with me, but I knew that Lyme was going to be a lifelong struggle. Following this diagnosis my life flipped upside down, I was forced to withdraw from a graduate program I had committed to at Western University and focus on my health. I was put on strong antibiotics for over a year and during that year I spent my time in bed, too sick to get up completely engulfed in my illness. I watched life move on without me, forgetting I was even there. The isolation and loneliness that I felt was something that I will never forget.

The Other Diagnoses

After years overwhelming neck pain, hopeful procedures, confused doctors and random dislocations I was officially diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) in 2020. hEDS is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue in the body. Essentially my connective tissue does not work well, leaving my muscles to hold joints and such together, which leads to a lot of problems. 

This discover lead to a diagnosis of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, sleep apnea, dysautonomia and a few other issues. Dealing with this pain and diagnoses has been so isolating and confusing.  I have endured nerve blocks, nerve ablations, years of physical therapy, steroid epidural injections and have been put on dozens of different medications, and I never found any relief. For me hEDS is progressive and will continue to get worse as I age. Facing these realities have been difficult, but has made me a much more understanding and empathetic person.

Using My Story for Change

 Through these past few years I recognized the extreme lack of resources for those with chronic pain and illness, it seems that we have been forgotten. I remember once trying to seek out counseling and being sent to an addictions counselor because it was the closest thing to a pain counselor they had. This was devastating and this made me realize I wanted to make a difference. I want to make a world that takes care of and nurtures their chronic pain members, not ignores them. So I spent three years getting my master's degree in counseling so I could maybe make a difference for people like us. After the medical world failed me I started to study everything I could chronic pain and mental health and I discovered a powerful connection between people's minds and their pain. By taking control and training you brain you can gain power over your pain and learn to live beyond it. I have created my counseling practice around this idea, I believe that the mind is the most powerful tool we have again our pain.

Chronic Hope Counseling and Community Center

180 Mine Lake Court, Raleigh, North Carolina 27615, United States

(919) 238 1113

Hours

Mon

10:00 am – 07:00 pm

Tue

10:00 am – 07:00 pm

Wed

10:00 am – 07:00 pm

Thu

10:00 am – 07:00 pm

Fri

10:00 am – 07:00 pm

Sat

By Appointment

Sun

By Appointment


Copyright © 2019 Chronic Hope Counseling and Community Center - All Rights Reserved.

jennifer.sutton@chronichopecounseling.com

  • Upcoming Trainings/Talks
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

Accept