Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I have been able to blog due to a broken elbow and surgery on my right arm. I still do not have full range of motion with my arm, but as you can see I CAN BLOG AGAIN! Here are my first thoughts about dealing with this situation.
The pain from breaking off a piece of bone from my elbow was intense, it bloody hurt a lot. I received a perscription for a pain killer, "propoxyphene-n-100" which is a generic form of Darvocet (a narcotic). WOW. The pain was gone, but so was I. I felt totally clouded and had no emotions. Since I like my emotions, I asked my doctor for alternative and he prescribed 600 mg. of Ibuprofen. I tolerated it much better. After narcotics I awoke one morning and with just thinking about my elbow, the pain, the recovery, my lost summer vacation days, the fact that I couldn't drive for awhile and would probably have pins and plates in my body forever. This wasn't a pity party, but a recognition of the fact that I had a serious injury and would have to deal with it. I cried. It was the first time since the accident happened and boy did it feel good to just cry.
This incident triggered a memory for me back to 1976 when my father-in-law passed away from a long battle with cancer. I was in my mid-twenties. My mother-in-law shared some of her tranquilizers with me and I took a Valium. She said it would make me feel better and it did, but again I didn't like the feeling. There was a two day wake for my father-in-law and I remember going back the second day without Valium and feeling tremendous sorrow and emotional pain. I lost someone I loved and it hurt and I felt it and cried. The crying continued for the funeral, but I found the act of crying (which is the human response to pain) to help. All the tranquilizer did was to rob me of my emotions.
Pain is a part of of the human condition and we all encounter it sooner or later. Now, I'm not against pain killers for any serious condition and certainly post- surgery is a time for pain relief, but the narcotics are bad. I wonder about all the people who are prescribed these drugs too easily and miss out on the human feelings of pain that cause us to turn to tears and the Healer (Dr. Jesus) for freedom from both physical and emotional pain. Are drugs the answer?
I think not.
