Posted: Aug 26, 08 11:25am
I have an unbearable amount of pain, and I've been living with it since 1988.
A quick rundown: Spinal stenosis, akylosing spondylitis, Rheumatoid arthritis, shattered pelvis that will not heal and cannot be repaired,
cellulitis, Edema, lymphatic edema, Asthma, chronic bronchitis, and most recently a broken spine (not cracked...actually broken in two.) and really bad sleep apnea, hypothyroidism.
That's the big stuff, anyway.
I moved from Nebraska to the California desert to be able to do away with the filter mask. Also, the dry heat here is great for the arthritis.
I do a couple of basic things that seem to help with the over all pain.
First, I bought a hot tub. I think it's a law in California that everyone has to have one.
The 99-degree water and lack of gravity help a lot in the short term.
I also use an electric blanket when I sleep, as the heat helps with the pain.
My doctors have me on a huge regimen of medicines, about half of which are for pain.
I have developed a high tolerance for pain, and now if something new happens they go straight for a double dose of morphine.
I find there are some self-hypnotic routines I can invoke to either help with pain or to put myself to sleep.
Time to travel, more on this later.
