Day 87 - Pain 101

I slept OK, not well. I still have bad phantom pain. The pain is till my broken toes on the missing leg.

Maddie wanted to go to Church this morning, so she was busy with the typical woman fluffing hair routine. She did look nice though.
While she was busy getting ready, I made myself a cup of coffee for the first time in weeks. The biggest problem was moving the full cup to the computer. During this comedy skit, I dropped a crutch. What a mission. I finally ended up smacking the fallen crutch with the other crutch till it got jammed on a cupboard, and I was able to get it up to my hip and grab it.
I was unable to move the coffee cup without spilling, so I found a travel mug that has a lid. I decanted the coffee into it, then sort of held the cup and crutched at the same time. It felt more like crutching the coffee, and the body coming along, was a secondary thing.

While I was in the hospital, there was a fat, spoiled teenager in the next bed. He had broken his ankle. After surgery he was moaning lots.
When the nurse comes by every hour, to take blood pressure and temperature, she always asks if I have nausea, and what is the current level of pain I am feeling. They explained the pain scale to everyone in the ward. She came by and asked my pain level. I told her about a 3, so hold my pills. I may want them later.
The nurse asked the kid his pain level, and he whines it is a TEN. I told him don't say it is a ten, but tell the actual truth. He then whined louder "It is a TEN a TEN."
 I told him they just cut my leg off, and the pain never got above a 7.
But he insisted the pain level was a ten, so the nurse presses the button and Doctors zoom in and drug him unconscious.

Pain is a subjective thing. Some people suffer some pains better than others. A person may be able to handle steady, constant pain, but sharp, stabbing pain bothers them much more, or visa versa.

Unfortunately I am a bit of a pain expert. I wish I was ignorant of pain like that teenager was. I suffered migraines for many years, I suffered lower back pain for many years, and now I have cancer and they chopped off my leg.

There is a pain scale, that attempts to quantify pain into usable values. Different Doctors have different pain scales, and different types of pain, affect different people, differently.

Basically a 0 pain level is no pain or discomfort.
1-2-3 - are more of discomforts, than actual pains.
4-5-6 - are real pains, that significantly affect your daily activities, and your quality of life.
7-8-9-10 - these are severe and disabling. No daily routines or actions are possible.

I have arthritis in my one hand. It is a constant discomfort. I can still do anything with that hand, but I am conscious that it is unpleasant to do that action. I call that pain a 2, and sometimes a 3.

When I stub a toe, it is like a 5 for a few seconds, then quickly drops to a 2 or 3.

A bee sting is a like a 4 that soon drops to a 2 or 3.

The sciatica from my back was often a 5 or 6. It would make me think of little else than the pain. No coffee, no lunch, and normal daily tasks are impossible.

After the leg amputation, the pain was a 7, but drugs took it down to a 3. I never suffered much from pain after the amputation. The Doctor that did the surgery said he believes that pain is a strong negative to quick recovery. He never wanted me to feel more than a 3. This phantom pain becomes a 4 or 5, and when Maddie talks to me my mind quickly drifts to the pain.

The worse were the migraines. When ever a migraine snuck up, and got out of control, it was a real 7 or 8. There was no other thought on earth but the stupor of pain. It was my entire world.

I had one migraine that was a 9 or 10. It was life threatening. Suicide was a pleasant relief that I was unable to perform due to the pain.

Some pills like Celebrex are wonderful additions to my life. I take 2 a day, and they seem to lower my whole pain down 1 or maybe 2 points, but only if the original pain is below a 4.

I have been taking way to much Tramacet lately. Tramacet lowers steady pains down a few points as long as the pain is steady, and below a 6 to start with.
When I get a sharp phantom pain, the Tramacet seems to do little. But it is very hard to tell what it would have been with a different dosage.

Ok, now back to the real world.
Maddie is back from Church with food shopping. She showed what she bought, and all of a sudden I am hungry.

I put the carpet sliders on our 2 living room chairs, so they slide easier on the tiles.
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Evening -
Maddie is busy making supper. She just swept the driveway. I am a real slave driver.
We just went for a walk. About 50 meters to the gate and back, twice.

I lengthened the crutches, and they are more comfortable, but now they sometimes catch on the ground when bringing them forward. Whether I leave them this long will depend on whether I trip tomorrow or not. :-)

Tomorrow morning at 11:00 is an appointment with the Wound Care Lady   so she can inspect and re-wrap the stump. I am going to nag her about a prosthesis. But I am sure they will want another 2 weeks for the wound to heal.

I am still having bad phantom pain. It is a steady pain level 3 with a jump up to 5 every minute or so. It is very distracting to have a strong pain every few minutes. I spend much time anticipating the pain.
My pain killing tablets seem to reduce the steady pain to about a 1, but they have little affect on the strong sharp pains. My sleep comes in many short naps.
I did a total of 30 minutes of "mirroring" today. If it helps, it will be a slow solution.

Maddie just served supper. I challenge anyone to find a healthier supper :-)
Yummy.

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