Log #41 (Roller Coaster)

Here we go!   Let's take a ride on The Chronic Pain Coaster.  A whirling, twirling, up and down ride through this man's cycles of persistant discomfort today.  Please keep your hands and feet inside.

Morning as broken and I've just finished the death defying ride of Sleep On, Sleep Off.  I'm a little light headed and have a headache with stinging eyes from from its tossing and turning motions.  Now I'm waiting in line for the Chronic Pain Coaster.  I'm staring at the ceiling overhead wondering if I should try Sleep On, Sleep Off again, but decide against it.

Before boarding, I strectch my legs and wiggle my toes and feet knowing that as soon I get on board they'll already be tired and stiff.  As I approach my seat I size up the ride before me by making an assesment of how my back and groin feels and it looks, on first inspection, that maybe it won't be too bad this time.  I get into my seat slowly and rigidly by rolling onto my side in a near featle position before pushing myself up to sit on the edge of the bed (long gone are the days of jumping out of bed at a fast pace).  Placing my feet on the floor, I strap on my safety harness and brace myself for the ride to launch.

Like a blast the coaster shoots out of the gate as pain shoots it's way from my heals to my low back as I stand up and put my full weight on my legs.  The tracks feel a little bumpy this morning--my ancles are still stiff from trying to stay motionless as much as possible during the night. 

The first hill is a small one and the wheels of the coaster get lubricated when my joints loosen up a little on the way into the kitchen.  The hill of pain slowly rises while I make my breakfast then falls when I get back in bed to eat.  At this point I can coast along for a while and check my email and Facebook on my laptop.  The first hill is designed into the ride so I can build up enough speed to heading into the first hairpin turn of taking my morning medications.  There is a lot of them and if I don't go into the turn just right I'll get an upset stomach.

After the first turn, there is an immediate steap climb in pain as I stand in the shower, dry off, make myself presentable, get dressed, open the curtains to let the sunshine in, put my dishes in the sink, and make the bed.  By the time I reach the peak, I take a pain pill (Norco) to help me get down the other side faster.

Today the other side of the hill was another stretch of track were I could cost along for a bit while the effects of the last hill subside.  I checked to make sure my harnesses were still secure when my wife called from work on her lunch break.  Just hearing her voice seems to make the ride a little smoother for those few minutes we're able to talk.  She usually gives me warnings of upcoming hills by reminding me of things I need to do that day.

The warnings this time consisted of reminding me that I had a big hill of doing some laundry so the boys would have clean cloths for their baseball in the afternoon, which is a very large hill that I actually find some joy in.  The phone call over and the coasting done, I follow the same proceedure I do everytime I get out of bed by rolling over to my side then pushing myself to a sitting position.  I'm now securely in my seat once again as I brace for the laindry hill.  To help me stay in my seat I take my Oxycontin; scheduled for noon each day.

Laundry starts out at a series of small ups and downs as the hill rises.  Going into the boy's room, I have to stoop down to pick up cloths left on the floor and not in their basket and stand up again to throw the cloths in.  This bobbing of the track gets me going at a higher velocity to the summit.  Luckily, the Norco combined with the Oxycontin keeps the crest from getting to high.  The top levels off as I drag the basket to the laundry room then slopes up again as it bobs, twists, and turns while putting the soap and cloths into the washer.  This finished, the descent starts as soon as I lay down again.  However, this time the descent isn't so pronounced because I can't get to the bottom before I need to go back into the laundry and put the cloths in the dryer.

And so the roller coaster rumbles along, up and down, in and out, throughout the day and into the evening with everything I do until it's time to get off and go back over to Sleep On, Sleep Off where I can start the cycle all over again.

Thank you for riding!  Please come again!