I have a sister who suffers from chronic (on a scale from 1-10 ..an 11) back, neck, and leg pain due to a car accident. It hurts for me to see her suffering. I feel helpless and sad. What can I do to help her?

She messed up a few of her discs pretty bad. She’s in her late 40’s and the doctors feel that she is too young to be operated on. She takes heavy meds and is getting worse. I caught her crawling up the stairs the other day because of pain (she thought that no one was looking). Her husband and her got into the other day and he pushed her against a wall, told her to “take another pill”. She drove to a parking lot on her own and started sobbing—crying out to my Mom for help. Her husband doesn’t understand how bad it is for her because she hides it from him. She is trying to be strong mentally and physically and she does it all. Her main priority is her 7 year old daughter.

My sister used to be so outgoing, was an RN (worked in the OR) for 25 years before the accident. She had tons of friend, and loved life. Now, she struggles to get by and does her best to put a smile on her face and keep on truckin’. I want her to live and not merely survive, you know?

It breaks my heart.

What can I do?