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Feeling pain
This going to be another meandering thought, which may end up having a point. All of us have felt pain. Some of it physical. Fall down, break a hip … your whole life changes. On the good side, you will get to park your car in the primo spaces. On the downside, you find out how much of the County is inaccessible to you. We’re working on it, but still don’t understand that a fourinch bump is like a mountain to the disabled, or mildly disabled.
I have bad knees, due to previous surgeries, and other stuff that doctors have stopped trying to find. They just go: “Huh.” When I approach stairs, it’s like gazing into the depths of hell or, I guess, the heights of hell. If there’s not a handrail for me to use my arms, I’m euchred. I swear 80-year-olds have seen my predicament, and helped me conquer the stair mountain.
OTHER THAN THAT. . .
My dad was a farmer. He was always bleeding. That’s what happens in farming; no explanation necessary.
I would say: “Hey, you’ve got blood running down your arm! What happened?” And he would say, “Beats me.”
Now I am my father’s son. I can bump into anything, or pick up anything and I end up with unknown cuts, which I don’t know about until someone tells me, “There’s blood dripping off your hand.” I go, “Huh.” What happened? Beats me.
This is why I only buy the big bandage pack at Dollarama. I’ve never had small unexpected blood incidents.
NOW TO THE TOUGH PART
Physical pain is a thing. It hurts; it passes. It’s like going to the dentist. It doesn’t hurt (due to modern technology) and then it does. Meanwhile, if you try to drink coffee, it will end up on your shirt. We all know this, so County people say, “Been to the dentist?” And I say, “Yeath.”
Passing pain is something we’ve learned to live with. I slammed my thumb in my truck door. It hurt. My thumbnail turned black. But I knew eventually it would go back to normal.
No one says, “Hey, are you aware that your thumbnail is black?” Hell, they didn’t even notice when I shaved my beard off. In other words, people look at me as little as absolutely possible. I share that belief, as I look in the mirror as little as possible, and just check for possible bleeding areas. If not, good to go.
BAD PAIN
Yes, there’s a Bad Pain, and that’s a whole different deal. I don’t get headaches (which is passing pain), but some get migraines, which is not.
I have identified Bad Pain, through my Amazon course on: The Body, and why it doesn’t work. So I have my own list:
TEETH
A toothache can drive you insane. It does not jump in occasionally—it hammers your brain until you want to replace Orajel with cocaine and heroin. You can tell your dentist: “I started out with Orajel (which is actually Benzocaine, a numbing agent) but since it took two months to get an appointment with you, I now smoke crack.”
This is an acceptable excuse for dentists. They just nod. Most of their waiting patients tell the same story.
LEG AND KNEE PAIN
As I revealed earlier, I have bad knees. Without the knee action, the rest of my legs went on vacation. I have installed hand-grips on every doorway, and a critical one outside my shower, simply because I’m so tired of falling down unexpectedly. I had a chance to think about this while lying in my tub while taking a shower. This was not a bath. The shower was pounding on me relentlessly while I was pondering the prospect of being discovered in my tub a couple of weeks later: “Oh, that’s very sad, but he is remarkably clean!”
Leg and Knee is a big deal. If you walk into any large gathering and say: “Show of hands! Leg and knee problems?” you would be astounded.
BACK PAIN
We’re now at the top level of pain. Back pain does not go away. It is always there. You can stretch, you can massage, you can go to chiropractors, you can have scantily clad ladies walk barefoot on your back, or do goat yoga (which is apparently a thing). But it will not let go.
Mattress and pillow salesmen will tell you they can fix it, using their technological expertise, combined with their serious desire to sell you stuff.
I spend a lot of time at a computer (where I am right now). My posture is somewhat hobbit-like, because good writing can only be done hunched over a keyboard, with sweat pouring out, and hey! Why is my arm bleeding? I’m at a freakin’ keyboard! How did that happen? Huh.
There are lots of people who do very strenuous jobs. (Not me.) They know all about back pain, yet they go back and do the job.
I learned a lesson as I grew older. Me and a ladder do not mix. As a chronic do-it-yourselfer. I also learned that sometimes it’s best to hire a professional to do the job. Their knees and backs are already shot—just like mine—but they carry on.
EMOTIONAL PAIN
Physical pain is known to us. Emotional pain is tougher. Because, unlike the others, it hangs on for years, popping up at random times due to emotional triggers. Occasionally I feel depressed for no reason. Then I realize it’s the time of year when Dad died. The same with other traumatic events in my life. It seems these things plant a seed in my subconscious.
Funny how the brain works. It won’t tell me if it’s Monday or Friday, but it can dig out memories from 30 years ago.
Some pains just don’t go away.
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