Mr MacArthur is now on a mission to help other people in the Shepparton community who are living with chronic pain by running a weekly discussion group.
The idea for the group developed after recently undertaking a six-week pain management course designed to help reduce the effects of the disease.
However, Mr MacArthur and other chronic pain sufferers found the course emotionally disconnected.
Mr MacArthur said the program had a great physical structure but didn’t give participants the chance to discuss the impact pain had on their lives.
“During breaks we would just sit as a group and talk about how miserable they were, how happy they were, how it has destroyed marriages,” Mr MacArthur said.
The group environment helped deal with the emotional element of pain, so Mr MacArthur decided to continue the discussion and hold weekly meetings for people living with chronic pain.
Mr MacArthur said the group would give people suffering pain the opportunity to talk about their feelings and daily struggles to other people who understood what they were going through.
“People who don’t know how to express themselves, they now won’t be alone and can talk to us and not be judged,” he said.
“Hopefully it will give them some respite just by talking.
“It’s an unseen disease, you can’t see somebody that’s in pain,” he said.
A packet of Panadol will be passed around the group and when a person is holding the Panadol they will have the chance to express their feelings and concerns.
“Don’t be afraid to come along because pain can happen to anyone,” he said.
“It’s important for people to understand they aren’t alone,” he said.
The sessions will be held at the South Shepparton Community Centre every Tuesday from 10am until noon.
For more information or to register for the group, phone the Community Centre on 5821 6172 or via its email administrator@southcom.org.au
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