Pain Wins

Haven't been here to post in a couple of days, but I have very good reasons...pain and pain medication.


I don't know if I've mentioned it previously, but I have severe arthritis in my left hip and I did something last Friday that 68 years of conditioning allowed my brain and body to act upon without thought...I jumped up to grab hold of a branch I wanted to prune off the apple tree. Imagine my surprise when I landed back on my feet and my hip shrieked loudly. It has continued to shriek since although the volume is slowly going down. As if the pain were not enough, some part of my brain immediately began telling me how stupid I was to have jumped. Another part of my brain told the first part to just shut-up, that it had to understand that 68 years had far more seniority than the few months it's been contending with arthritis. To shut them both up, I took myself in the house and swallowed a Vicoden.




Now I don't know how medication affects you, dear reader; but I have a very low tolerance for it and in no time at all, it makes me very stupid. Back in the day, I was an editor for the Textbook of Physiology and Biophysics; and through reading and editing the chapter submissions, the galley and page proofs, I learned a great deal about the brain. So, I believe that Vicoden not only works on the pain receptors, but it also smothers whatever areas of the brain that allow me to think and function like a normal person. I mean, I'm still a normal person, but I can't hold a thought, remember what I was saying; and if it didn't hurt to lay (or is it lie) down, I'd be more than happy to stay in bed until my owie is all better or my husband transports me to Tacoma and leaves me on a street corner with a tag around my neck that identifies me as Jane Doe and provides an address on the east coast.


So, those are my excuses for not sitting and typing...yes, I could have sat and typed, but it most likely wouldn't have made much sense...is this making sense? But, I've cut back on the meds and slowly whatever files were shut down and put to sleep for several days are coming back on line...I can actually complete a sentence without losing track of what I was saying. Actually, perhaps I should try blogging when I'm high...why do they call it high anyway since all it does to me is make me stupid and sleepy...and see what shows up here. And, the opportunity to do so will undoubtedly return inasmuch as apparently arthritis has a tendency to flare up even if you don't do anything, or aren't aware you've done anything. I'll have to think about that while I have all my faculties. The resulting post could be quite funny and then again, it might not.


Do you suffer from any kind of chronic health problems that don't show up every day? How do you deal with them? This is really new for me, so suggestions or ideas would be most appreciated...please, post away.