“My pain is barely a comma now”

Pain management at Cheyenne VA began with a question for former Army officer Dominic Sansone.

“What is your goal with the pain team?” Sansone recalls. “I knew saying, ‘I wanna feel gooder’ wouldn’t work.”

So he picked something smaller. Something specific.

“I want to stand in front of the mirror and shave without stopping because of back pain,” Sansone says. “What I found out was that it was a trick question.”

He had stopped expecting relief

Sansone enlisted in the Army, later earned his commission and medically retired in 2016 after injuries from combat in Afghanistan.

After he left the Army, he went through procedures on his spine. He also tried care through VA.

None of it changed the way he understood pain.

“Pain interfered with everything directly and indirectly, I just didn’t know it,” Sansone says. “I let go of my hobbies and stopped working out.”

The hardest part for Sansone was not feeling the results he wanted.

“Basically, I lost hope that anything would get better,” Sansone says.

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 Cheyenne VA Health Care System.

Cheyenne asked a different question

Dr. Karen Jiles leads pain management at Cheyenne. She says chronic pain affects every part of a Veteran’s life.

“We are dedicated to transforming the way Veterans understand, experience and manage their pain,” Jiles says.

At Cheyenne, the team looks at sleep, movement, mood, nutrition and daily roles, not just the painful area. Then it builds a plan with the Veteran.

“Each Veteran receives a comprehensive evaluation. A combination of providers collaborates in real time,” she says. “It’s, ‘here’s a plan created for you and with you.’”

Sansone noticed the difference at his first visit.

“When 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’s when I knew they were listening,” Sansone says.

He says other places had not done that.

“Other places treated my body but not my mind,” Sansone says. “I never mentally adjusted until the Cheyenne VA.”

Seeing changes

The first change showed up at home.

“We would sit in silence with our heads in devices. We used them to distract us from the pain,” Sansone says. “Now we talk like teenagers, and our bond is stronger.”

The pain is still there. He feels it when he shaves and when he walks with his wife.

“My pain is no longer the period at the end of the sentence,” Sansone says. “It’s barely a comma. My mind is in control. I know it’s gonna hurt, but I have the tools to accept and mitigate the impact pain has on my life.”

Now he wants to help other Veterans

Sansone was accepted into the University of Denver’s master’s program in social work.

He plans to become a licensed clinical social worker and wants to work with Veterans.

He nominated Cheyenne’s pain management team for the 2026 Dan Starks Award from the Wyoming Veterans Commission so other Veterans would know this kind of care exists at Cheyenne VA.

The Dan Starks Award is given each year to recognize outstanding service and innovation in caring for Wyoming Veterans.

“I want to bring the same familiarity and open freedom one Veteran has with another Veteran,” he says.

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 or the VA: Health and Benefits App.