One of many reasons why I keep returning to the clinic-based aquatic center is because I have something vital in common with every person there, whether or not I know their names.
We are, every one of us, people who know what it's like to live with excruciating, unending pain.
And even people who have found enduring relief from their agony -- people like me -- need to remember.
In that respect, Facebook helps.
Here's a screenshot of my Facebook status one year ago today:
Sometimes, especially when my knee is throbbing and every step is agony, I remember this passage from Joseph Heller's "Catch-22" and nod in agreement:
"Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include tooth decay in His divine system of creation? Why in the world did He ever create pain?"
"Pain?' Lieutenant Shiesskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. "Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers."
"And who created the dangers?" Yossarian demanded. "Why couldn't He have used a doorbell to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person's forehead?"
"People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes right in the middle of their foreheads."
"They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony, don't they?”
Health care providers, for all their sophistication, have not yet devised a way to eradicate chronic pain and still keep the patient alive and functioning.
After I underwent knee surgery, I was put on a regimen of opioid medication. There really was no way around it, according to the surgeon. And yet, I'd read, and written, all too many news stories about the opioid epidemic, and how many people's lives are ruined or even lost because of an addiction that often starts with prescriptions like mine. So I was super-careful -- taking only what I needed, when I needed it, and gradually tapering off until I no longer needed the medication.
There are, of course, ways to live with pain without opioids -- like elevating the aching joint, icing it, and moving it around in 94-degree water in ways prescribed by a therapist.
But pain is pain. Pain is real, and it's a real impairment. And for people who experience pain, it's helpful when the people around them take it seriously.
We are, every one of us, people who know what it's like to live with excruciating, unending pain.
And even people who have found enduring relief from their agony -- people like me -- need to remember.
In that respect, Facebook helps.
Here's a screenshot of my Facebook status one year ago today:
"Good God, how much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include tooth decay in His divine system of creation? Why in the world did He ever create pain?"
"Pain?' Lieutenant Shiesskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. "Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers."
"And who created the dangers?" Yossarian demanded. "Why couldn't He have used a doorbell to notify us, or one of His celestial choirs? Or a system of blue-and-red neon tubes right in the middle of each person's forehead?"
"People would certainly look silly walking around with red neon tubes right in the middle of their foreheads."
"They certainly look beautiful now writhing in agony, don't they?”
Health care providers, for all their sophistication, have not yet devised a way to eradicate chronic pain and still keep the patient alive and functioning.
After I underwent knee surgery, I was put on a regimen of opioid medication. There really was no way around it, according to the surgeon. And yet, I'd read, and written, all too many news stories about the opioid epidemic, and how many people's lives are ruined or even lost because of an addiction that often starts with prescriptions like mine. So I was super-careful -- taking only what I needed, when I needed it, and gradually tapering off until I no longer needed the medication.
There are, of course, ways to live with pain without opioids -- like elevating the aching joint, icing it, and moving it around in 94-degree water in ways prescribed by a therapist.
But pain is pain. Pain is real, and it's a real impairment. And for people who experience pain, it's helpful when the people around them take it seriously.
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