iPain Living Magazine — 9
THE FAILURE OF
BEING SICK
Americans have a dysfunctional
relationship with illness of all
kinds. Our science excels at identifying
diseases. Our medicine
excels at treating them. Our culture
however shames the sick, as
if a malady of the body diminishes
the intrinsic value of the Being
somehow. “Sick” is a character
flaw when you allow others to define
your character. This probably
goes back to when the sick or
lame would slow our nomadic ancestors.
In some ways we’re still
stuck back there.
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN PAIN
AND SHAME
We have a dysfunctional relationship
with pain. When Attorney
General Jeff Sessions said,
“People need to take aspirin
sometimes and tough it out a little”
and the press in the room
chuckled as he smiled…it was a
chilling moment. The face of Justice
was mocking pain and the
people who suffer from it. How
could he get away with such a
thing? Well…
Culturally we’ve always tried to
shrug off pain. In the 1996 Olympics
when gymnast Kerri Strug
injured her ankle performing the
first of two vaults, she was in
pain. She was a ‘good sport’
though because her coach told her
she needed to do her second vault
and nail it, and she did. One of the
most iconic images in sports is her
landing on one foot then crawling
off the floor after her winning
vault. She didn’t let pain stop her.
Dramatically, it’s the cornerstone
of most conflict sports, like wrestling
entertainment. The hero gets
his butt kicked, then, despite the
pain, the hero comes back to defeat
the ‘bad guy/girl’ and win the
match. It’s ingrained.
PAIN IS INVISIBLE
One problem with pain is that it
isn’t a sign, it’s a symptom. There
are plenty of diseases that can be
quantified on blood tests, seen on
films, cut out or off of a body. Not
pain. Pain is invisible.
Last year I was driving home after
a long day when I heard and saw
sirens light up behind me. I was
pulled over and a police officer
explained that I hadn’t come to a
full stop at the STOP sign. There
it was – a big red octagon with
stark white letters – STOP. There
was no ambiguity. If we can’t see
it, then surely it is something that
can be overcome by force of will?
Stand me next to someone in
chronic pain and you might not
see anything obvious. Ask a question
or two and really listen to the
answers and you might begin to
gather that something is wrong.
HELPING
QUANTIFY PAIN
The invisibility of pain sits at the
center of miscommunication between
they who suffer and they
who can alleviate the suffering.
It’s why Wong - Baker developed
the Faces of Pain Scale. It is an
attempt at creating a number for a
thing that no one but the patient
can count.
The Wong-Baker made a big dif-
(Connued on page 10)