WordJames's Mind

Pain Dream

I suffer from severe arthritis of the spine, a condition that leads to back pain, difficulty swallowing (when the inflammation blocks the nerves that control swallowing), and other problems. My back is heavily calcified with some disks damaged. I am very sensitive to changes in the weather, especially changes in the air pressure.

I had a fall over a week ago. The fall messed up my right arm from the wrist to the elbow. That was all that hurt at first, but my back started bothering me after a day. There are three areas of pain: from my neck to the base of my shoulder blades and out to the sides; at the base of my rib cage and out to the sides; and in my lower back. After the second day following the fall, I needed pain killers in order to sleep ... until two nights ago.

Last night I slept poorly and had a dream about pain:

I was sitting on the wall in front of the house, watching our dog, who we keep on a cable. My back was hurting, so I was moving my body back and forth to diminish the pain and to build up the muscles in my lower back and abdomen. The pain in my back increased to the point that I was becoming confused. I managed to put the dog in the house and lock the door from the outside before the pain got so bad that I would pass out.

Instead of passing out, though, my brain shut down and I started walking. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, but I felt a compulsion to walk despite the pain it caused me. Eventually, very late at night, a cop stopped me to see if I was drunk or doped up. I didn't respond to any of his questions and I was carrying nothing but my house keys, so he sent me to the county jail to fingerprint me so I could be identified. Somehow, though, I wound up at the city jail and nobody knew what to do with me.

Every time nobody paid attention to me, I would start walking again. I kept getting away from my jailers. Finally they fingerprinted and photographed me, planning to lock me up. They got distracted again, though, and I somehow managed to leave the building and get out onto the street. I must have walked for hours because it was full daylight when they found me again. This time they took me to the hospital. They neglected to warn the staff to keep an eye on me, and I managed to escape before they could start to treat me. I wandered all around the hospital, from one floor to another, for at least a night and a day before somebody figured I was somewhere I didn't belong. They took me to the emergency room where a doctor finally figured out that I was in extreme pain and that instead of passing out from the pain I was basically sleepwalking. He also figured out that I was diabetic from the insulin pump in my pocket, so he had my blood sugar measured. It was extremely low.

They fastened my arms and ankles to a bed, to prevent my walking away again, and gave me pain killers and anti=inflammatory medications in addition to intravenous glucose. I briefly became rational enough to tell the doctors who I was and how to contact my family, then I fell asleep.

They hadn't administered pain killers while I slept but they had removed the restraints. I woke and sleep-walked away. When they found me again, my family was waiting. They gave me pain killers again to restore me to rational behavior. I explained about the fall and resulting pain and we all started discussing my surgical options.

This was the point at which I woke. For a moment I was confused because I was feeling pain similar to that I had dreamed about but much less intense. Then I realized it had been a dream.

Pain Dream

I suffer from severe arthritis of the spine, a condition that leads to back pain, difficulty swallowing (when the inflammation blocks the nerves that control swallowing), and other problems. My back is heavily calcified with some disks damaged. I am very sensitive to changes in the weather, especially changes in the air pressure.

I had a fall over a week ago. The fall messed up my right arm from the wrist to the elbow. That was all that hurt at first, but my back started bothering me after a day. There are three areas of pain: from my neck to the base of my shoulder blades and out to the sides; at the base of my rib cage and out to the sides; and in my lower back. After the second day following the fall, I needed pain killers in order to sleep ... until two nights ago.

Last night I slept poorly and had a dream about pain:

I was sitting on the wall in front of the house, watching our dog, who we keep on a cable. My back was hurting, so I was moving my body back and forth to diminish the pain and to build up the muscles in my lower back and abdomen. The pain in my back increased to the point that I was becoming confused. I managed to put the dog in the house and lock the door from the outside before the pain got so bad that I would pass out.

Instead of passing out, though, my brain shut down and I started walking. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, but I felt a compulsion to walk despite the pain it caused me. Eventually, very late at night, a cop stopped me to see if I was drunk or doped up. I didn't respond to any of his questions and I was carrying nothing but my house keys, so he sent me to the county jail to fingerprint me so I could be identified. Somehow, though, I wound up at the city jail and nobody knew what to do with me.

Every time nobody paid attention to me, I would start walking again. I kept getting away from my jailers. Finally they fingerprinted and photographed me, planning to lock me up. They got distracted again, though, and I somehow managed to leave the building and get out onto the street. I must have walked for hours because it was full daylight when they found me again. This time they took me to the hospital. They neglected to warn the staff to keep an eye on me, and I managed to escape before they could start to treat me. I wandered all around the hospital, from one floor to another, for at least a night and a day before somebody figured I was somewhere I didn't belong. They took me to the emergency room where a doctor finally figured out that I was in extreme pain and that instead of passing out from the pain I was basically sleepwalking. He also figured out that I was diabetic from the insulin pump in my pocket, so he had my blood sugar measured. It was extremely low.

They fastened my arms and ankles to a bed, to prevent my walking away again, and gave me pain killers and anti=inflammatory medications in addition to intravenous glucose. I briefly became rational enough to tell the doctors who I was and how to contact my family, then I fell asleep.

They hadn't administered pain killers while I slept but they had removed the restraints. I woke and sleep-walked away. When they found me again, my family was waiting. They gave me pain killers again to restore me to rational behavior. I explained about the fall and resulting pain and we all started discussing my surgical options.

This was the point at which I woke. For a moment I was confused because I was feeling pain similar to that I had dreamed about but much less intense. Then I realized it had been a dream.