Pain is…very unpleasant. Let me apologize in advance if I ramble at some point, but I’m still doped up on painkillers at the moment.
Quite frankly, pain sucks. But at the same time, it is very important, even crucial for our survival. Tonight, I found myself even thanking God for my recent pain. If I hadn’t felt some serious pain yesterday, I’d probably be dead, or well into the process of dying by now.
I was released from the hospital earlier this morning. I was admitted so the doctors could begin treatment for several massive kidney stones (five of them in total) discovered by CT scan. I had gone to the emergency room after experiencing severe pain during a sleepless, most uncomfortable night.
Instead of celebrating Independence Day with a whole host of extended family visiting my house, I spent the day consulting a series of doctors before having minor surgery to implant two stents in my bladder. The biggest kidney stone is almost a half-inch big, much too large to pass through my ureter.
This marble-sized stone blocked the entrance and gave me an infection as my body began to retain too much urine, which caused the severe pain. I arrived at the emergency room around 5:30 am, and within an hour I had been admitted as a patient.
By three p.m. that same day (and a national holiday, no less) I was in surgery. Obviously, the doctors were taking my condition quite seriously. Later that night it occurred to me that only 100 years ago, this merely painful condition would have almost certainly killed me.
Without ever feeling any pain, several disastrous possibilities could have emerged. The infection could have become septic and caused severe kidney damage, or my bladder or kidneys could have ruptured and killed me. Given the alternatives, I happily accept the pain I recently suffered.
I gave thanks to God, for two reasons: creating this material body to house my spirit, and for creating the scientists who used modern science to design and manufacture the tools and equipment used to diagnose and treat my condition.
Of course, I’m not completely out of the woods yet. The stones must still pass from my body. For that to happen, these monster stones must be broken up into many smaller stones in a procedure known as a lithotripsy, which uses sound waves to accomplish that goal.
Yes, I “f#$%ing” love science (as one anti-religious Facebook page proclaims) because if all goes well and there are no complications, in about a week I’ll have experienced a full recovery. However, I will also face experiencing some new pain as all those small stones pass, but the pleasure I will feel when my urine turns clear and the pain goes away will border ecstasy.
This next week promises to be painful, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Soon enough this experience will be over and my life will return to normal. To get through this process, I will merely remind myself that pain is a necessary communication tool, and water is my best friend.
By the way, I’ll get to celebrate my birthday within the next few days. I’ve had better plans than the plans for this birthday, but this still beats the alternative — death. If I hadn’t felt pain, I wouldn’t have known this serious problem existed. And my body would probably be shutting down by now.
So, I thanked God for my pain. And I also expressed thanks to science for my painkillers, which don’t really kill the pain, but they do make it bearable. I’ll take pain over death all day, every day, considering the other option. I know I’m still going to die, eventually, but probably not anytime soon.
It now occurs to me that I should also give thanks for the doctors and nurses who treated me, but while my pain was severe, I wasn’t quite as grateful to my doctors for their help. Not nearly as grateful as I should have been, considering the fact they will have extended my life with their expert care.
Life itself is a precious gift from God. Pain is also a gift from God, because it is a vital communication tool that lets us know when our body is in trouble and needs medical help. If we only experienced pain and never felt pleasure, we would not be able to appreciate the contrast.
This marvelous physical body my soul currently inhabits is a most remarkable gift from God. Years ago another surgeon told me that my body wants to heal itself. And it will.
This body only needs time, plus a little help from a few medical professionals.
Thanks be to God!
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