PAIN MANAGEMENT

Editor -- I am a chronic pain sufferer who has been in a pain
management program for the past few years after realizing surgery
would not cure my chronic pain. I also watched my father suffer from
severe pain due to terminal cancer. He was humanely treated in a
hospice program.

I would like to congratulate and thank you and Carl T. Hall on your
``Special Report: Living and Dying in Pain.'' It presented an accurate
picture of what a chronic pain suffer goes through on a daily basis.

I was especially encouraged that Mr. Hall incorporated information on
pain killers and the trouble that doctors have prescribing narcotic
painkillers more frequently. Before I was accepted into a pain
management program, my other doctors would not consider long-term pain
medication.

While chronic pain still exists, it is heartening to have the
mainstream media deal with it in a straightforward accurate manner.
Maybe it will help those not affected (either directly or living with
a chronic pain sufferer) understand what it means.

JEANINE LAYLAND
Napa