No Pain, No Gain

I'm in a fair amount of pain so its been on the mind recently. I'm doing Physical Therapy twice a week and each time my therapist asks what my pain is on a scale of 1 to 10. Anyone who's been in a Dr's Office, Hospital or watched a Hospital Drama knows what the 10-point pain scale is. It is the most frustrating, arbitrary and yet important concept in Health Care. There is no way, as I've mentioned before, for a person to experience another person's pain. My experiences, nervous system and focus all contribute to the amount of pain I tolerate, all three things which will be different from yours. Because of this I've tried different ways to decide which number to assign to whatever pain I happen to be in the office to complain about. Usually I go by the little faces on the little poster you all know I'm talking about. I usually say a number between 4 and 8. In my mind a 10 would be 1000 volts of electricity or a gunshot wound while a 1 would be no pain at all. However, as I've thought about it, I think a more descriptive method would be describing this pain in relation to the other pains I have experienced.

As I've thought about this, I've decided I've had an extremely easy life. I've had one surgery which is inextricably linked to my one broken bone. I was born with 2 "conditions", one of which I grew out of (asthma) and one which is under control (allergies). Never been electrocuted, never fallen more than a few stories, never passed out or been shot (other than paint balls). So, here are the most painful things I've experienced in order.




Least - Well, anytime I haven't been in pain

1 - Sprained my ankle pretty bad this one time and had to use crutches at work

2 - Had some pretty nasty migraines which my mother falsely attributed to video games and candy but were actually a result of dog hair and pollen allergies

3 - Got hit about six inches above the knee on the inside of my right leg by a 58-60 mph fastball

4 - I had infected lymph nodes when I was like 8, my ear canal felt like it was going to explode

Middle - I sprained/tore my left oblique (my current injury)

6 - A Hornet stung me on the upper lip at my mom's grandparent's house and it swelled up so big I could see it

7 - After my nasal surgery I developed a sore throat which two vicodin and a constant stream of lausanges couldn't hold down, absolute misery

8 - Got drilled in the face when I missed a toss from my dad (most likely broke my nose leading to the aforementioned surgery)

9 - Nearly burned by thumb print off on a chipper shredder's muffler, but I was 6 or something so the memory is pretty hazy, If I had a better memory of this it would probably be the most

Most - I dropped a rock on my right foot. I'm not talking a skipping stone, this solid piece of granite was at least 75 lbs and I was wearing sandals. I was probably around 13-14 yrs old and my dad had to carry me several hundred yards to our car. Apparently it didn't break the toe, but it shattered the nail and it still hasn't healed entirely (neither has the other leaving me with some gnarly big toenails)



Pretty easy life I've had so far.



Braves magic number is 19 with 31 to go and still have the best record in baseball.