Cheyenne VA pain management helps Veteran rethink pain<\/p>\n
Pain management at Cheyenne VA Health Care System (CVAHCS) began with a question for former Army officer Dominic Sansone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is your goal with the pain team?\u201d Sansone was asked. \u201cI knew saying, \u2018I wanna feel gooder\u2019 wouldn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, he picked something smaller. Something specific: \u201cI want to stand in front of the mirror and shave without stopping because of back pain,\u201d he shared. \u201cWhat I found out was that it was a trick question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stopped expecting relief<\/p>\n
Sansone enlisted in the Army, later earned a commission and then medically retired in 2016 after injuries from combat in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
After he left the Army, he went through procedures on his spine. He also tried care through VA.<\/p>\n
None of it changed the way he understood pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cPain interfered with everything directly and indirectly, I just didn\u2019t know it,\u201d he said. \u201cI let go of my hobbies and stopped working out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hardest part for Sansone was not feeling the results he wanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, I lost hope that anything would get better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He and his wife, who is also a disabled combat Veteran, had stopped using VA services. After moving from Connecticut to Cheyenne in 2024, they gave VA another chance and both enrolled in pain management at CVAHCS.<\/p>\n
Cheyenne asked a different question<\/p>\n
Dr. Karen Jiles leads pain management at Cheyenne. She knows that chronic pain affects every part of a Veteran\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are dedicated to transforming the way Veterans understand, experience and manage their pain,\u201d Jiles said.<\/p>\n
At Cheyenne<\/a>, the team looks at sleep, movement, mood, nutrition and daily roles, not just the painful area. Then it builds a plan with the Veteran.<\/p>\n \u201cEach Veteran receives a comprehensive evaluation. A combination of providers collaborates in real time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s, \u2018Here\u2019s a plan created for you and with you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sansone noticed the difference at his first visit.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw a team of medical professionals in a room, just like a brigade staff, all dedicated to support me and solve these problems, that\u2019s when I knew they were listening,\u201d Sansone said.<\/p>\n No other places had done that for him.<\/p>\n \u201cOther places treated my body but not my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cI never mentally adjusted until [I went to] Cheyenne VA.\u201d<\/p>\n Seeing changes<\/p>\n The first change showed up at home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would sit in silence with our heads in devices. We used them to distract us from the pain,\u201d he shared. \u201cNow we talk like teenagers, and our bond is stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n The pain is still there. He feels it when he shaves and when he walks with his wife.<\/p>\n \u201cMy pain is no longer the period at the end of the sentence,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s barely a comma. My mind is in control. I know it\u2019s gonna hurt, but I have the tools to accept and mitigate the impact pain has on my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Now he wants to help other Veterans<\/p>\n Sansone was accepted into the University of Denver\u2019s master\u2019s program in social work. He plans to become a licensed clinical social worker and wants to work with Veterans to help \u201cbring the same familiarity and open freedom one Veteran has with another Veteran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He nominated Cheyenne\u2019s pain management team for the 2026 Dan Starks Award<\/a> from the Wyoming Veterans Commission so other Veterans would know this kind of care exists at CVAHCS.<\/p>\n The Dan Starks Award is given each year to recognize outstanding service and innovation in caring for Wyoming Veterans.<\/p>\n To get started with pain management, ask your VA primary care provider about a referral. You can also send a secure message through My HealtheVet<\/a> or the VA: Health and Benefits App<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cheyenne VA pain management helps Veteran rethink pain Pain management at Cheyenne VA Health Care System (CVAHCS) began…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":883415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,1800,4464,67,132,68,358725],"class_list":["post-883414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-pain","tag-pain-management","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-visn-19"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116790036184812856","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}