One thing I hate about going to the doctor or PT office to be evaluated is that stupid pain question.

Ya know, on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain imaginable.

Well, given that I’ve

  • had two simultaneous dry sockets that lasted six months,
  • had a gall bladder attack that was so bad I couldn’t tell if it was the heart, gall bladder, or appendix, and ended up in the hospital,
  • been living with arthritis since high school,

my 10 is pretty darn high.

Compared to that, the stuff going on now hurts, but in the four to five range. And then these professionals are all like, well that’s not too bad.

Seriously, these folks have never had anything happen to them or they have lousy imaginations.

So I set out to find a new scale. And I did! It does exactly what I need. It takes something subjective that’s drastically different for each person, and makes it slightly more objective.

Too bad I totally don’t remember where it’s from …

All of a sudden my four is more like a seven. Amazingly, these professionals “get it” now. Yeah, it hurts. But no, it’s nowhere near the “worst” I’ve ever had or can imagine. But yeah, it totally interferes with basic needs such as walking, sitting, standing, bathing, sleeping, getting dressed, breathing, and so on.

So I’d like to thank whoever put this together. If you happen to read this, let me know, and I’ll send you some homemade rice krispy treats. Cuz, yeah, you’re my freakin’ hero.