For nearly two decades, Linda relied on a system to manage her chronic pain.
For the past 40 years, she’s lived with rheumatoid arthritis, and today, she also deals with pain from osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and from a lingering spinal issue from a serious fall years ago.
Like many people with long-term pain, she learned how to navigate it. More importantly, she had a pain management team she trusted, that that understood her history and helped her maintain some level of stability.
So, when that clinic abruptly closed earlier this year, just months after she underwent reconstructive spinal surgery, everything changed overnight.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “Nineteen years, and then suddenly, you’re starting over.”
Linda was referred to another provider, hoping for continuity. Instead, the experience left her feeling dismissed and discouraged at a time when she needed support the most.
“It was just, ‘we’ll give you the pills and you go away,’” she says. “That’s not what I wanted. That’s not what I needed.”
Facing the reality of starting over, Linda did what so many patients do when they’re out of options: she did a Google search. That’s what led her to Dr. Christopher Trower and the team at Commonwealth Pain & Spine in Ft. Mill.
It’s also what led her to It’s also what led her to a doctor focused on listening, precision, and treating her as a whole person.
A Different Kind of Care
From her very first visits, Linda noticed something different. “Dr. Trower is such a great listener. He really cares.” she says. “That stood out to me right away.”
After decades of navigating the healthcare system, Linda knows the difference between being treated and being truly heard. With Dr. Trower, she felt a level of attention and care that had been missing elsewhere, not to mention a doctor who was willing to take the time to understand not just her symptoms, but her full history.
While medication remained part of her care, it was only one piece of a broader, more comprehensive approach. Dr. Trower also performed targeted hip joint injections; something her previous clinic had never offered.
“I’ve had a lot of injections over the years,” says Linda. “And I can tell you, his were the easiest I’ve ever had.”
“I felt like myself again”
Not long after starting treatment, Linda came to the clinic for a follow up appointment and Dr. Trower asked her a question that made her pause.
“He asked me how I was doing,” she says. “And I just teared up. For the first time in years, I realized I felt good. I felt like myself again. My personality is back.”
Today, Linda is looking ahead at a life with renewed possibility.
One of the things she’s most excited about is returning to something deeply meaningful to her: helping transport rescue animals. It’s work that requires time, energy, and a whole lot of mental and physical endurance – all the things that pain had once taken away.
“That’s where my heart is,” she says. “And now I’ll be able to do it again.”
After years of managing complex pain, not to mention a difficult period of uncertainty, she’s found something she didn’t expect to find again so quickly: hope.
“I went from not knowing what I was going to do,” she says, “to feeling like I have my life back.”
About Christopher Trower, DO
Dr. Trower earned his medical degree from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his residency in the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Program at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where he also served as Chief Resident.
Dedicated to providing thoughtful, high-quality care to his patients, he practices at Commonwealth's locations in Fort Mill and Columbia, SC, and Belmont, NC.
Ready find your way back to a life with less pain? Request an appointment and get started.
Patient name has been changed to protect privacy.
