As someone who also suffers with chronic pain (herniated discs, bulging discs and rhuematoid arthritis) I can relate to your feelings. One of the hardest things for me was realizing that maybe my being around limited my friends activities. I always felt that maybe they would rather be out doing something else, if I weren't there to tag along. I think it is just part of the process of learning how to deal with your pain and grieve the loss of your old "able bodied self". I know that is what helped me. I was sad that I wasn't the same person I was before the pain but, what can you do besides try to learn to live with it. Your friends won't hold it against you, and you shouldn't be embarassed about something that you didn't cause or couldn't prevent.

BTW, I was 17 when I was diagnosed with the rheumatoid arthritis and it was really hard at first because all my friends were out being teenagers when I was at home feeling like an 80 y/o woman. It REALLY sucked.

Hope this helps.