Episode 10: Abigail Reighard on battling chronic pain, mental breakdowns & self-harm Mighty Pursuit Podcast
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- Health & Fitness
For the last 15+ years, Abigail Reighard-Fusco has had to go through bouts of suffocating pain due to chronic kidney stones and a bladder disease. If you’ve ever had just one kidney stone, then you know how painful this is.
In Abigail’s words, it’s like someone is stabbing you. Abigail has had to carry up to a hundred stones in her body at once, which sounds almost unimaginable for that to be anyone’s reality.
This episode is especially relevant because of how much we struggle to deal with pain as a society. When we are in pain, hope seems to be distant and we don’t really know how to cope in the midst of it. What do you do when the pain doesn’t go away? What do you do when your situation doesn’t change? Now a speaker and brain health advocate, Abigail has so much to teach us in these areas.
In this conversation we talk about chronic pain, mental health, self-harm and how to find the light in the midst of overwhelming darkness.
Abigail's Socials + Website:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigailreighard/?hl=en
Website: https://www.abigailreighard.com/
Chapters
0:00 - 2:02 - Intro
2:02 - 6:27 - Abigail’s battle with chronic pain
6:27 - 8:29 - The first time she felt the pain
8:29 - 10:48 - The Mayo Clinic
10:48 - 12:20 - The day she found out it won’t go away
12:20 - 13:46 - Isolating from people
13:46 - 17:00 - The bladder disease
17:00 - 18:11 - Spiraling down a dark path
18:11 - 19:00 - Living in constant fear
19:00 - 20:55 - Screaming in the hospital
20:55 - 28:17 - Adjusting to a new reality
28:17 - 33:28 - Wrestling with her spiritual journey
33:28 - 35:09 - Hooked on painkillers
35:09 - 38:50 - Mental breakdown
38:50 - 50:25 - Self-harm
50:25 - 53:21 - Mental hospital is like the movies
53:21 - 55:28 - Inpatient center
55:28 - 57:29 - Reframing pain
57:29 - 1:01:41 - DBT & radical acceptance
1:01:41 - 1:02:32 - Finding meaning in pain
1:02:32 - 1:05:43 - Signs & turtles
1:05:43 - 1:09:28 - How could God allow suffering?
1:09:28 - 1:11:24 - Grieving the life she thought she’d live
1:11:24 - 1:16:13 - Getting married & having a daughter
1:16:13 - 1:20:24 - Dealing with chronic pain now
1:20:24 - 1:24:18 - How pain has shaped Abigail positively
1:24:18 - 1:25:53 - To the hopeless person
Mighty Pursuit Links:
Website: https://www.mightypursuit.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mightypursuit/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mightypursuit/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mightypursuit
For business inquiries: hello@mightypursuit.com
For the last 15+ years, Abigail Reighard-Fusco has had to go through bouts of suffocating pain due to chronic kidney stones and a bladder disease. If you’ve ever had just one kidney stone, then you know how painful this is.
In Abigail’s words, it’s like someone is stabbing you. Abigail has had to carry up to a hundred stones in her body at once, which sounds almost unimaginable for that to be anyone’s reality.
This episode is especially relevant because of how much we struggle to deal with pain as a society. When we are in pain, hope seems to be distant and we don’t really know how to cope in the midst of it. What do you do when the pain doesn’t go away? What do you do when your situation doesn’t change? Now a speaker and brain health advocate, Abigail has so much to teach us in these areas.
In this conversation we talk about chronic pain, mental health, self-harm and how to find the light in the midst of overwhelming darkness.
Abigail's Socials + Website:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abigailreighard/?hl=en
Website: https://www.abigailreighard.com/
Chapters
0:00 - 2:02 - Intro
2:02 - 6:27 - Abigail’s battle with chronic pain
6:27 - 8:29 - The first time she felt the pain
8:29 - 10:48 - The Mayo Clinic
10:48 - 12:20 - The day she found out it won’t go away
12:20 - 13:46 - Isolating from people
13:46 - 17:00 - The bladder disease
17:00 - 18:11 - Spiraling down a dark path
18:11 - 19:00 - Living in constant fear
19:00 - 20:55 - Screaming in the hospital
20:55 - 28:17 - Adjusting to a new reality
28:17 - 33:28 - Wrestling with her spiritual journey
33:28 - 35:09 - Hooked on painkillers
35:09 - 38:50 - Mental breakdown
38:50 - 50:25 - Self-harm
50:25 - 53:21 - Mental hospital is like the movies
53:21 - 55:28 - Inpatient center
55:28 - 57:29 - Reframing pain
57:29 - 1:01:41 - DBT & radical acceptance
1:01:41 - 1:02:32 - Finding meaning in pain
1:02:32 - 1:05:43 - Signs & turtles
1:05:43 - 1:09:28 - How could God allow suffering?
1:09:28 - 1:11:24 - Grieving the life she thought she’d live
1:11:24 - 1:16:13 - Getting married & having a daughter
1:16:13 - 1:20:24 - Dealing with chronic pain now
1:20:24 - 1:24:18 - How pain has shaped Abigail positively
1:24:18 - 1:25:53 - To the hopeless person
Mighty Pursuit Links:
Website: https://www.mightypursuit.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mightypursuit/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mightypursuit/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mightypursuit
For business inquiries: hello@mightypursuit.com