hey I've been pretty shy about posting in this thread

I have chronic pain something fierce, and as I live in the northern Midwest of the united states, winters can be pretty damn brutal in terms of pain. Due to an accident when I was 16 that ended with me needing multiple pins put into my foot to hold my bones together. Also, I have a picture. Please view at your own discretion. I mean... it's a foot with pins sticking out of it. If that stuff makes you squeamish, might not want to click this link!

Six years later, I have severe arthritis in my foot. Due to favoring my right foot for so long, naturally my left foot developed arthritis, too. So a big mess, really. I still have broken bones in my foot that will not be able to heal because it will require me to not move my foot for up to six months. As such, the bones are constantly inflamed and I have to take care to keep my feet elevated or they swell to the point of becoming numb. This winter, with how frigid it has been, many nights were spent crying myself to sleep because of how much pain I was in. I believe I acquired a lot of micro-fractures over the winter simply by working at my job or standing on my tiptoes. My pain starts from the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning to the moment I put my feet up at night. As such, much of my time during the day is spent lying down or sitting. Many times I have to schedule my day around my pain. It is extremely frustrating. FFXIV helps because it takes my mind off of my pain.