I am not a medical doctor (but the character I stole the name from was on TV).

My nom de plume is derived from:
Being a chronic pain patient.
Using humor in coping/dealing with, and writing about, chronic pain.
Being a science fiction aficionado.
Being a child of the '60s... man.
People calling me "Doc" most of my life.

Adding them up, I chose Dr. Zachary Smith of the '60s TV show, LOST IN SPACE, whose apt trademark was... "Oh, the pain... THE PAIN..."

I have been disabled with chronic pain and chronic headaches (both migraine and cervicogenic) for seven years and change. I started developing non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy (dx & cause as yet unknown) about a year ago.

My laundry list of maladies includes (but is not limited to)
Chronic (more than 15/month) cervicogenic and migraine headaches; DDD (c5-c7 and l5-s1) with bulges, stenosis, and one known crack/tear (l5/s1); bone spurs (entire spine); osteoarthritis (systemic); nerve impingement (both shoulders); IBS (remission); edema and idiopathic peripheral neuropathy (both feet)

.... so I'll be skulking around primarily in the chronic pain and neuropathy groups.

Some time ago I wrote an article on day-to-day coping with chronic pain and associated depression and stress, which I'm constantly expanding and improving.
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Doc Smith
Oh, the pain... THE PAIN...