Chronic pain was my world

For years, chasing help cost me money, time, and hope. Every appointment and “try this” added up, and the real answers stayed scattered across forums, feeds, and clinic doors.

where it started
Lying in bed, with questions racing through my mind.
For five years, chronic pain was my whole world. An L5/S1 central disc protrusion pushed on my S1 nerve root, with significant bilateral foraminal stenosis. It caused debilitating pain, made my leg go numb, and impacted my ability to work, my mental health, my relationships, and everyday tasks.
what it cost
For nearly four years, I wasn’t believed.
I saw 10+ healthcare specialists, sat through around 70 physio appointments, and spent $10,000+ just trying to find someone who would actually listen. I was in crippling pain, desperately looking for answers on how I could heal and what my diagnosis meant, but was bewildered by disparate and conflicting information.
what was missing
Answers I could trust, between appointments, were the missing piece.
I searched 634 times across chatbots, Google, and YouTube, and joined support groups full of good people all searching for the same thing. They were 2.5x more likely between midnight and 6am than my everyday ones, and peaked at 4am. It still left me more lost than found, and years of the things I loved slipped past.
what changed
So I built PainPal.
After a five-year ordeal, I finally found the right care team, education, and treatment to recover. Then I kept a promise I’d made myself, and put my 10+ years in tech to work making reliable answers easier to reach. PainPal is the tool I wish I’d had: answers about back pain between appointments, grounded in research and real recovery stories, with the source shown every time.
where it’s going
Turning hurt into hope.
I’m now on a mission to turn hurt into hope, and I’m lucky to partner with the Remarkable disability tech program to build this chatbot and amplify help for people like me.

Answers to your burning questions

These are the real questions people bring us, often at 2am. Answers are grounded in research and written in plain English, to help you understand and prepare. This is general information, not medical advice, and never a replacement for your doctor.

If you’re struggling, you don’t have to go through it alone. In the US, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on 988, any time.

Chronic pain was my world

Lying in bed, with questions racing through my mind.