What a Pain

Anyone who lives with chronic pain, or lives with someone who has chronic pain, knows the devastation that ensues. Often invisible, unpredictable, and misunderstood, pain has the ability to impact every aspect of a person’s life, and the lives of those who bear witness to the suffering. At its best, pain is a nagging annoyance; at its worst, pain is a vicious, unrelenting behemoth.

I have experienced migraines for many years. The headaches incapacitate me to the point that all I can do is sequester myself in a dark room, take frequent hot showers, replenish ice bags on an hourly basis, and bow to the porcelain gods. The day after a migraine, I can barely brush my hair due to the tenderness of my scalp. The good news is the headaches are sporadic and only last 24 hours. The bad news is the headaches are excruciating and last one thousand, four hundred, and forty-four minutes.

I’m so very grateful my experience with pain is limited to a few migraines a year. Those who live with chronic pain experience a very different reality. Along with the physical aspects of pain, there are emotional, psychological, and practical issues involved. On occasion, there may even be a spiritual component. It is not always obvious that someone is in pain. There can be prejudice, discrimination, and judgment toward someone living with chronic pain, and steady employment is often compromised due to pain episodes or exacerbations. Applying for Social Security Disability can be a unique pain in and of itself. There really is no end to the misery.

I’m grateful for physicians who specialize in pain management, palliative care specialists, and pharmaceuticals that address pain. I’m also thankful for holistic alternatives such as biofeedback, therapy, cannabis, and psilocybin. There are those that say the dosing of holistic medicines is uncertain and indiscriminate. To which I would suggest, “1-2 pills every 4-6 hours” doesn’t seem like an exact science either.

Years ago, I was visiting a patient who was in severe agony. When I asked him about his pain, this was his reply, “There’s worse things than dying and one of them is living like this.” Enough said.