Now I just have to figure out the words to describe it. I think I can, I think I can:
Those things that are like pot-belly stoves in old trains? Well, I had one inside my right thigh yesterday. And it was stoked like crazy. It was about eight inches by five inches of raging inferno.
I kept having to remind myself that there was not actually any concern about my jeans melting into my skin...
I guess it was not that hard to describe after all -- I think. Did it make sense?
I'm actually going to comment on an old post from July 1,2012. It was the one about waking up seemingly paralyzed--except if you looked at the part you wanted to move, then you could. It reminded me of a story (in an old New Yorker?) about a man who had phantom pains in a leg that had been amputated. The doctor cured him of the phantom pain over time by tricking his eyes and therefore his brain (with the use of mirrors) into thinking the leg he still had was on the other side of his body. Apparently the brain has a "body map," so the doctor was able to get the brain to "redraw" the map. I can't remember what they did to the good leg while the man watched in the mirror (little exercises? massage?), but to his eyes it appeared to be happening on the other side of his body. Eventually, the part of the brain that once was reserved as a "map" for the leg that was amputated, became part of the body map of the good leg. Therefore, the man could no longer feel pain in the amputated leg because it did not exist even his his brain any longer. A fascinating example of retraining the brain! This may not be particularly helpful information to anyone whose whole body hurts, but you've got to admit it's interesting. The reason the man in question had phantom pain at all, was because he was allowed to suffer in pain for quite some time before the amputation was done. When the pain system gets "overstimulated," it can go "haywire." Even the brain can initiate pain, which is not how we usually think pain works.
ReplyDeleteWish I could correct typos after the fact . . .
ReplyDeleteMeant to type (8th line from the bottom):
". . . because it did not exist even in his brain any longer."
The brain is a fascinating thing... maybe even mine!
ReplyDeleteCertainly well described. What a crazy thing to live with, Jack. Oy.
ReplyDelete