Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Like a Dumb Animal...

Pain.

I've been thinking about it for a while. I'm in pain. Of course, so is everyone else. Pain happens to everyone all the time. I'm not really worried about being in pain, though. I'm starting to think I have a high tolerance for the stuff.

Case in point:
About 20 years ago I had a very sharp pain in my lower back. It was constant. I couldn't do anything without it grabbing and sending sharp shooting sensation down my leg. My leg also went numb quite often. I went to a chiropracter a few times and the pain went away for about a day. Bad backs kind of run in my family. My dad and my brother both had 2 back surgeries. I read all about the surgery and wanted no part of it. So I just suffered. For about 2 years I suffered. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore and went to a regular doctor. He sent me to a physical therapist who worked on me daily for 2 weeks. No more pain. I couldn't believe it and kicked myself for not going sooner. I had to kick pretty hard though because, remember, I have a high tolerance for pain.

Case in point 2:
From about 20 years ago to 4 years ago I would have extreme uterine pain monthly at mid-cycle. The pain was so severe that it was worse than labor. I went to my gyno about it a couple of times. He was baffled, even did an ultrasound during one bout and found nothing. I told him "I just want to know if it's dangerous to my health. I can put up with a lot of pain." He never did really find out what the problem was, but when I had my hysterectomy 4 years ago the problem was solved.

And speaking of my hysterectomy, when I woke up from the surgery I thought, "Wow, they cured my back! It doesn't hurt anymore!" (yes, the back pain has returned, and no, I haven't been back to the physical therapist) 5 days later I ran out of Percocet and realized they hadn't cured anything.

Case in point numero 3:
I have had five children. Count them. FIVE! And I had one shot of deadening with only one of them. ONE! It was a thing called a "paracervical block". I don't even think they do those anymore. That was my first labor and delivery. The rest of my children I bore without ANYTHING. I didn't even have an IV. And one of my kids was born posterior. I was wondering about how I handled the pain. I know on TV you see women screaming and yelling and carrying on. I asked my husband if I was like that, cause I really don't remember being a noisy yeller. He said no. He said I just did a lot of panting and focusing, kind of like a birthing mama dog.

The reason I've been thinking about all this lately is because I have a friend who goes to the doctor for everything. If she gets a pain, she's in there getting checked out. Why don't I do that?

Just too dumb, I guess.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Yer schmart as a fox, girlfriend. You were born tough. Don't be too tough, though. Know when it's time to go.

Lisa said...

I'm the same way! I always feel stupid going to the doctor because I'm afraid they'll tell me its all in my head. I never go if its a cold or the flu or anything. Hmmmm, it seems to be genetic. Maybe I can do the whole natural birth thing too!!

Becca said...

I don't go to the doctor unless I cannot focus on what I am doing. It got that way when I had the gall bladder thing. Talk about scary. Listen to your body and don't wait until it is too painful.

Anonymous said...

I can relate to what you said. I had a root canal last month and 8 cavities filled Saturday morning. I really shouldn't have procrastinated so long.