Okay, so we’ve all been there. Someone new comes into your life and you feel close enough to tell them about your RA. Or maybe, like some, you wear your RA on your sleeve and proudly (maybe the wrong word) let everyone know about Arthur and you.
It’s hard to explain what chronic pain feels like. Obviously, there’s the physical pain. A lot of people can’t really comprehend how badly that feels. But even more debilitating (in some cases) is the emotional and mental anguish caused by a chronic pain condition. It’s hard to explain what it’s like to feel left out because you can’t play on a jungle gym or participate in sports… or even go out sometimes. I came across this story, The Spoon Theory, from a Facebook page (I Love Someone With Rheumatoid Arthritis – you should join. I mean, clearly you’re here and you love me, so there. Okay, maybe not me.) It really does a good job of depicting the planning that has to go into certain days. I’m lucky enough (at least right now) that I have more than 12 spoons and I usually know which activities suck up more spoons, avoiding them whenever possible. But there are definitely days when I don’t know how I got from sunrise to sunset without an IV of coffee.
Trying to explain chronic pain to friends can be very difficult. Even my closest ones don't seem to want to hear it or understand when I can't do something or have to leave early because of pain.
In other news, I nominated you for a blog award!
http://lupiestudent.blogspot.com/2010/07/wow-went-awol.html
Oh, thank you so much hun! 🙂