[Music]
On June 24th 1999 I was riding a
motorcycle when I ran a stop sign I was
hit by a truck I was gonna come up for
ten days and when I woke up I learned
that my arm had been reattached my right
arm had been reattached my right leg had
been rebuilt I was told that I would
never walk without a cane or a walker
and that my right arm would just be an
ornament I stand before you here today
my journey here was unique I live with
pain constantly I’m in pain right now
but I’m not taking opioids and as I
learned this and as I was breaking down
how I live without opioids but with
chronic pain and how I do it by being
gonzo I had to first decide what does
gonzo mean so I did some homework and I
found out that many of us believe gonzo
is a muppet purple with the crooked nose
chasing chickens all over the place
I also learned that in 2005 a man by the
name of dr. Martin Hearst traced the
origins of the word gonzo to this man
dr. Hunter s Thompson a doctorate of
journalism and writer for Rolling Stone
magazine he first coined the terms
gonzo in reference to his own journalism
in 1985 Miriam Webster published the
first dictionary definition of gonzo as
a reference to his journalism today we
have come to say that the term means
extreme unconventional against the norm
if you will and I would say that a man
living with chronic pain on a daily
basis and not taking opioids is gonzo
and I’ll explain a little more to you
when I started this project there was
four lessons I had learned from gonzo
and Hunter S Thompson
and I’d learn that through a process and
through the experiences that I’ve had
since my accident
like I said in 1999 I was told I would
never walk without a cane I was told my
arm would just be an ornament and then
since that time I have become an English
professor I’ve been a published
journalist a speech writer I appear as
an extra in the Charlize Theron movie
monster and I did all of these things
because I am gonzo I call myself gonzo I
am gonzo but I’m not Hunter s Thompson
Hunter Hayes Thompson killed himself in
2005 because he couldn’t manage his own
pain so his wife wrote a novel and it
was published in 2009 and my wife gave
me that novel and that novel is called
the gonzo way and there are seven
lessons in the gonzo way but there are
two that I think that are very important
and that it helped me manage my chronic
pain the gonzo way the first lesson is
number one is never stop learning even
today this very experience to get to
this TED talk I’ve learned like I said I
came into this experience yesterday
knowing that I was going to come out
here and give you four lessons in
managing chronic pain I stand before you
today giving to never stop learning
never stop learning about yourself I
learned a lot about myself in this TED
talk experience never stop learning
about your pain never stop learning
about its origins why do you hurt where
specifically do you hurt do not accept
the non describable pain I’m not sure
where it’s from
we’re not sure what is causing your pain
try to find out the origins try to find
out the answers try new things learn new
skills acquire new experiences in the
management of your pain and in your
daily life I don’t think that everyone
it can be a college professor a
journalist poet amateur cook mountain
biking movie extra but it’s worked
alright for me
try meeting new people
first and foremost that’s the most
important thing if you’re doing opioids
you’re not doing anything else and that
was the biggest lesson that I’ve learned
just recently when we were talking and
giving our TED talks at though of Marion
County prison the prisoners themselves
were coming up to me and saying look I
battled with opioids how do you do it
how do you not take pills and then I
realized by doing all these things
trying new things learning new skills
acquiring new experiences if you’re
doing those things you cannot do opioids
the choices seem relatively easy lesson
number two and this is probably the
hardest lesson and something that I had
to come to grips with even as I was
preparing this TED talk this morning and
last night the truth is easier and like
I said when I first started doing this
TED talk I was first putting this
together I said I got a four point plan
and they’ll help everybody live with
their pain and they won’t be on opioids
and yeah that’s just not the truth and
that was something that I had to come to
I also had to admit or learn how you
arrived at Mike or your current
condition I arrived at my current
condition I’m in pain every day every
morning when I wake up because I ran a
stop sign on a motorcycle it took me a
little while to come to that conclusion
in that realization but I have and I’ve
realized that truth not everyone is
responsible for their chronic pain my
brother-in-law my sister’s husband has
ALS Lou Gehrig’s disease he is dying he
is in pain every day and he knows this
but I can tell you the guy has been to
more concerts since his diagnosis than a
high school senior I can also tell you
he gets great seats and he will be going
to a Tesla concert in the coming weeks
so that is gonzo but he knows he has ALS
he knows his condition is not going to
improve but it hasn’t stopped him from
meeting new people trying new things and
experiencing new things
you have to own your pain just like I
own mine
here we are sweat knee braces got a
little stool so I can rest if I need to
I own it
but most importantly you have to know
that pain is all in your brain dr.
adrienne liu doctor of physical therapy
wrote a really interesting piece in his
book about pain management where he says
pain is all in your brain and the more
you know about it the better off you
will be they’re doing studies at beth
israel sinai where they’re using jazz
and classical music for people with
chronic pain to help them management and
it’s working so the solutions are all in
your brain see lesson one never stop
learning
I have tried physical therapy
occupational therapy visualizations tai
chi yoga th C’s CBDs obviously opioids
some things will work and some things
will not work but I’ve never stopped
learning I’m doing a TED talk here today
to talk to you about these things this
has been an incredibly educational
experience but I’ve never stopped
learning I came out here today to talk
to you about how I live without opioids
and how you by be making me and being
gonzo can live without opioids and live
with chronic pain and uh that’s not my
place I am here to tell you that if you
are gonzo and you fly in the face of
convention and people are telling you
know your pain is going to inhibit you
your injuries are keeping you from doing
things you tell them no and you be gonzo
my name is Patrick Rader I lived with
chronic pain Mahalo
you
On June 24th 1999 I was riding a
motorcycle when I ran a stop sign I was
hit by a truck I was gonna come up for
ten days and when I woke up I learned
that my arm had been reattached my right
arm had been reattached my right leg had
been rebuilt I was told that I would
never walk without a cane or a walker
and that my right arm would just be an
ornament I stand before you here today
my journey here was unique I live with
pain constantly I’m in pain right now
but I’m not taking opioids and as I
learned this and as I was breaking down
how I live without opioids but with
chronic pain and how I do it by being
gonzo I had to first decide what does
gonzo mean so I did some homework and I
found out that many of us believe gonzo
is a muppet purple with the crooked nose
chasing chickens all over the place
I also learned that in 2005 a man by the
name of dr. Martin Hearst traced the
origins of the word gonzo to this man
dr. Hunter s Thompson a doctorate of
journalism and writer for Rolling Stone
magazine he first coined the terms
gonzo in reference to his own journalism
in 1985 Miriam Webster published the
first dictionary definition of gonzo as
a reference to his journalism today we
have come to say that the term means
extreme unconventional against the norm
if you will and I would say that a man
living with chronic pain on a daily
basis and not taking opioids is gonzo
and I’ll explain a little more to you
when I started this project there was
four lessons I had learned from gonzo
and Hunter S Thompson
and I’d learn that through a process and
through the experiences that I’ve had
since my accident
like I said in 1999 I was told I would
never walk without a cane I was told my
arm would just be an ornament and then
since that time I have become an English
professor I’ve been a published
journalist a speech writer I appear as
an extra in the Charlize Theron movie
monster and I did all of these things
because I am gonzo I call myself gonzo I
am gonzo but I’m not Hunter s Thompson
Hunter Hayes Thompson killed himself in
2005 because he couldn’t manage his own
pain so his wife wrote a novel and it
was published in 2009 and my wife gave
me that novel and that novel is called
the gonzo way and there are seven
lessons in the gonzo way but there are
two that I think that are very important
and that it helped me manage my chronic
pain the gonzo way the first lesson is
number one is never stop learning even
today this very experience to get to
this TED talk I’ve learned like I said I
came into this experience yesterday
knowing that I was going to come out
here and give you four lessons in
managing chronic pain I stand before you
today giving to never stop learning
never stop learning about yourself I
learned a lot about myself in this TED
talk experience never stop learning
about your pain never stop learning
about its origins why do you hurt where
specifically do you hurt do not accept
the non describable pain I’m not sure
where it’s from
we’re not sure what is causing your pain
try to find out the origins try to find
out the answers try new things learn new
skills acquire new experiences in the
management of your pain and in your
daily life I don’t think that everyone
it can be a college professor a
journalist poet amateur cook mountain
biking movie extra but it’s worked
alright for me
try meeting new people
first and foremost that’s the most
important thing if you’re doing opioids
you’re not doing anything else and that
was the biggest lesson that I’ve learned
just recently when we were talking and
giving our TED talks at though of Marion
County prison the prisoners themselves
were coming up to me and saying look I
battled with opioids how do you do it
how do you not take pills and then I
realized by doing all these things
trying new things learning new skills
acquiring new experiences if you’re
doing those things you cannot do opioids
the choices seem relatively easy lesson
number two and this is probably the
hardest lesson and something that I had
to come to grips with even as I was
preparing this TED talk this morning and
last night the truth is easier and like
I said when I first started doing this
TED talk I was first putting this
together I said I got a four point plan
and they’ll help everybody live with
their pain and they won’t be on opioids
and yeah that’s just not the truth and
that was something that I had to come to
I also had to admit or learn how you
arrived at Mike or your current
condition I arrived at my current
condition I’m in pain every day every
morning when I wake up because I ran a
stop sign on a motorcycle it took me a
little while to come to that conclusion
in that realization but I have and I’ve
realized that truth not everyone is
responsible for their chronic pain my
brother-in-law my sister’s husband has
ALS Lou Gehrig’s disease he is dying he
is in pain every day and he knows this
but I can tell you the guy has been to
more concerts since his diagnosis than a
high school senior I can also tell you
he gets great seats and he will be going
to a Tesla concert in the coming weeks
so that is gonzo but he knows he has ALS
he knows his condition is not going to
improve but it hasn’t stopped him from
meeting new people trying new things and
experiencing new things
you have to own your pain just like I
own mine
here we are sweat knee braces got a
little stool so I can rest if I need to
I own it
but most importantly you have to know
that pain is all in your brain dr.
adrienne liu doctor of physical therapy
wrote a really interesting piece in his
book about pain management where he says
pain is all in your brain and the more
you know about it the better off you
will be they’re doing studies at beth
israel sinai where they’re using jazz
and classical music for people with
chronic pain to help them management and
it’s working so the solutions are all in
your brain see lesson one never stop
learning
I have tried physical therapy
occupational therapy visualizations tai
chi yoga th C’s CBDs obviously opioids
some things will work and some things
will not work but I’ve never stopped
learning I’m doing a TED talk here today
to talk to you about these things this
has been an incredibly educational
experience but I’ve never stopped
learning I came out here today to talk
to you about how I live without opioids
and how you by be making me and being
gonzo can live without opioids and live
with chronic pain and uh that’s not my
place I am here to tell you that if you
are gonzo and you fly in the face of
convention and people are telling you
know your pain is going to inhibit you
your injuries are keeping you from doing
things you tell them no and you be gonzo
my name is Patrick Rader I lived with
chronic pain Mahalo
you
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