Pain Galore

I was on a tricycle on my way home last night and I was crying. I asked myself 'When was the last time I cried because of too much physical pain?'

Truth is, I couldn't remember. Even when I was experiencing labor pains, all I did was curse. I grew up experiencing physical pain almost everyday from my mother's beating, and that made my pain tolerance high. Last night was torture beyond compare, the bones in my back felt like it were twisting, there was a mass inside my stomach that felt like a huge bomb wanting to explode so badly. I got home, rushed to the comfort room and released what I had to release. I thought I was going to be okay, turned out it was only a prelude to a worse kind of pain. I vomited everything that was in my stomach - my lunch, my afternoon snack, everything. I saw bits of the penoy I ate before going to school, some squash, some lechon paksiw, and even the soda I drank, I tasted it coming out of my mouth. After throwing up, a bigger mass built up inside of me, and that was it - Welcome to hell.

It was a familiar pain. Friday last week, I experienced it at around 1 o'clock in the morning. I tried to sleep through it, but it lasted until morning. It was not easy, I was jerking and trying to find a comfortable position and I failed. Every 20 minutes, I will wake up from unbearable pain. I never left for school that day, but I surprisingly got better that afternoon. I also vomited, but I managed to eat in the morning. Last night, however, my body was rejecting food which was very unusual. It never happened before, even when I was od'd, or when I had UTI, or when I had an accute viral infection after I gave birth (binat), or even when I was suffering from severe tonsilitis that had me go through an operation. Food is my ultimate glory, not even a severe sickness could make me stay away from eating. So last night was a first, a very unfortunate exception.

My partner tried to ease the pain by rubbing eficascent oil on my back and belly - to no avail. I tried to sleep through it, thinking that like before, the pain will go away. It didn't. I tried sleeping on the couch, on the floor, and tried several body positions but the pain remained. The pain started at around 3:45 pm, and at around 8:30, I gave up. I asked my partner to bring me to the hospital because I swear, I was thinking of dying on the spot only to be free from that agony. I took a bath, and waited for my partner to finish taking his, and while waiting I was almost screaming 'ayoko na'. Nakakahiya man marinig ng kasambahay namin, but that's how tormented I was.

On the way to the hospital, I thought of the possible reasons for the pain - kidney failure, lamig, lung something. I was open to a number of possibilities, and I was preparing myself to spend the night in a cold room at the hospital. When I got to the Emergency Room, the doctor asked me to give her a urine sample and then she poked different areas in my belly. Afterwards, the nurse injected Buscopan and pain killer in my system.

My partner stood beside me, holding my hand all throughout. I felt bad for him, he was scheduled for an interview for a higher position that night but had to let it pass because of me. Although it looked like he was not worried and was only happy for any reason to get him out of work for a day, he stayed and remained calm and patient. We were both waiting for the pain to subside, and after a few minutes, I felt drowsy. Pampatulog ata 'yung sinaksak sa 'kin. I managed to sleep for a good 45 minutes, with my right leg resting on my left knee. The pain was almost gone, or so I thought. A nurse woke me up from my almost peaceful slumber, and asked me if I the pain were gone. I sat up, nakiramdam ng konti, and said 'Opo, parang wala na'.

After one minute, it striked again. I told the doctor about it, but she only told me that I needed to induce pain killer in my system to make it go away. Apparently, it was only muscoskeletal pain because my urine was clean and free from whatever. My partner and I looked at each other and we were both puzzled. That was it? I am still suffering, and they did no more test, they only went about with their business and completely ignored us after. My partner asked the doctor what else can we do, and she just said that if the pain killer she provided didn't work, then go take another kind of pain killer. The one she gave us should do the trick na daw. I was so pissed, I walked out of the ER thinking I'd get a second opinion tomorrow.

Well, I always trusted doctors' judgments. I rarely doubt them, and I do whatever it is they advise. So, I took the pill, it worked and I was able to sleep that night. My mom, failing to receive my text message, still went to the hospital to check on me. Too late though, we were already home. I was already half-asleep when I heard her voice outside of our room, too bad I don't have enough strength to stand up and explain to her what happened. She brought food for me and my partner, and I heard that she was willing to stay overnight for me if I were admitted to the hospital. I'm thankful for her love and concern, and I'm going to quote Kris's statements 'I always felt that I was mom's favorite'. LOL.

I was not able to get a second opinion, as planned, but am planning to visit a physical therapist tomorrow. Right now, I'm good with the pain killer ready once this first wave of pain I'm feeling gets worse. There are so many mysteries inside my body, too bad there's no solid reason for its existence. I remember my ovarian cancer-scare, after going through transvaginal ultrasound and the works, it turned out I was only experiencing ___ (it's at the tip of my tongue). They said psychosomatic lang 'to, but I think it's better to face the possible consequences instead of being surprised with a taning. So hopefully, I'd feel better tomorrow, and I wish that I no longer experience what I went through last night. I'd schedule a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning. :)