Perspective
My husband has had a kidney stone stuck for the past week and a half. Through various trips to the urgent care, ER and doctors, I've had plenty of time to listen and analyze the answers he has given to the myriad of health care professionals. What's amazing to me is when they ask to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10. Have you ever wondered what they are looking for? Is there a right answer? He'll tell me he's in a terrible amount of pain and then tell the doctor he's around a 2. And what is a 2? I know what a 2 is for me. I've had several surgeries and other ailments of my own so I have a scale to go on.
10 - I don't think I've ever felt a 10; nor do I want to because I'm almost certain I would be dead.
9 - This is where things start to get gray. My sinus surgery was the worst thing ever. I don't really remember immediately after the surgery because I was adequately medicated. However, I think that day 3 after any surgery is the worst; so day 3 after surgery is my 9.
8 - This for certain is when they pulled the after surgery from my sinuses without warning. Worst. Pain. Ever. I thought I was going to get to 10, because I was not medicated or warned for that matter.
7 - Knee surgery. In retrospect it seems like this would be worse than sinus surgery, but it's not so.
6 - Kidney stone / Migraine. These tie. I have actually described migraine pain as a kidney stone in my head.
5 - This is equal to the pressure you feel when you have surgery and have to change positions. i.e. elevated knee or foot that has been operated on that you have to put down when you get out of bed. This is also my ranking for tosilectomy.
4 - Back pain. My bone spur growing, vertebrae fusing, sclerosis from degenerative disk disease spine puts me at about a 4 every day. I can function at this level pretty normally.
3 - Woman issues.
2 - Sinus infection.
1 - Paper cut.
Then I started to think about other things that people perceive differently.
Like, I wonder what certain things smell like to other people.
Or what they look like.
I have really large pupils. I've asked my past eye doctor and current about lasik with new technology and both told me I wasn't a candidate because of my large pupils. But I recently found out that that because they are big, my pupils let in more light and I can see more colors than an average pupil person. Which makes sense because I love art and painting and I have on occasion named a color similar to a crayon box palette that someone else has said was grey or a primary color.
What would happen if everything in live had to have a ranking system?
I guess we do this pretty regularly. We prioritize tasks on our to-do list; make choices about which family to spend holidays with; what major purchases get made first or which aren't so important. Even when we get dressed and eat our meals, aren't we really ranking what level of enjoyment of comfortableness those items fall at?
What if we approached every day and every activity and every decision as if it was the most important? Maybe we'd see things from other peoples perspective a little more clearly. Maybe we'd enjoy what we have and where we are just a little bit more.
10 - I don't think I've ever felt a 10; nor do I want to because I'm almost certain I would be dead.
9 - This is where things start to get gray. My sinus surgery was the worst thing ever. I don't really remember immediately after the surgery because I was adequately medicated. However, I think that day 3 after any surgery is the worst; so day 3 after surgery is my 9.
8 - This for certain is when they pulled the after surgery from my sinuses without warning. Worst. Pain. Ever. I thought I was going to get to 10, because I was not medicated or warned for that matter.
7 - Knee surgery. In retrospect it seems like this would be worse than sinus surgery, but it's not so.
6 - Kidney stone / Migraine. These tie. I have actually described migraine pain as a kidney stone in my head.
5 - This is equal to the pressure you feel when you have surgery and have to change positions. i.e. elevated knee or foot that has been operated on that you have to put down when you get out of bed. This is also my ranking for tosilectomy.
4 - Back pain. My bone spur growing, vertebrae fusing, sclerosis from degenerative disk disease spine puts me at about a 4 every day. I can function at this level pretty normally.
3 - Woman issues.
2 - Sinus infection.
1 - Paper cut.
Then I started to think about other things that people perceive differently.
Like, I wonder what certain things smell like to other people.
Or what they look like.
I have really large pupils. I've asked my past eye doctor and current about lasik with new technology and both told me I wasn't a candidate because of my large pupils. But I recently found out that that because they are big, my pupils let in more light and I can see more colors than an average pupil person. Which makes sense because I love art and painting and I have on occasion named a color similar to a crayon box palette that someone else has said was grey or a primary color.
What would happen if everything in live had to have a ranking system?
I guess we do this pretty regularly. We prioritize tasks on our to-do list; make choices about which family to spend holidays with; what major purchases get made first or which aren't so important. Even when we get dressed and eat our meals, aren't we really ranking what level of enjoyment of comfortableness those items fall at?
What if we approached every day and every activity and every decision as if it was the most important? Maybe we'd see things from other peoples perspective a little more clearly. Maybe we'd enjoy what we have and where we are just a little bit more.
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