Pain, Pain, Go Away

While lying in bed this morning facing one direction, I turned my head in the opporite direction to see if our dog was in the room. SNAP! Something went "out of whack" in the area between my shoulder blades.

This has happened before. There is usually a brief period of intense pain and then things work theie way back. I followed the usual routine and went to work. I had to drive about 80 miles to a meeting. I noticed that, whenever I had to shift into 5th gear, I had extreme pain in my back - so bad that I would gasp.

While driving back, the pain was still pretty bad - maybe a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. So, I called the chiropractor and drove straight to his office. He knew what the problem was right away - one of my back ribs twisted out of position and was having a difficult time working its way back into proper position. The pain I was experiencing was similar to the pain one might feel as a result of a broken rib - sharp pain when breathing, moving the arms, twisting the torso. The chiropractor gave me an adjustment that brought instant relief - for about 10 minutes. The pain returned.

So, here I sit. I feel a bit of pain when I type each letter. Still, I could be much worse. I know my pain will go away. My wife just heard from a friend whose brother-in-law just killed himself. My wife's friend has a son with severe depression - he has attempted suicide. The family has a history of suicide. The pain that my wife's friend has over the loss of her brother-in-law and the fear of the mental stability of son will not go away.

It is all a matter of perspective.