The system in the body that interprets pain is insane, crazy, and just makes no sense. I don’t have human control. Jack Schwarz had human control. He could stop the bleeding. Control the pain. On television, they drove a sail needle (like a thick nail) through his flesh. Not a flinch, not a drop of blood.
My receptors are off their rockers, dancing with the Minnions, way past Looney Tunes. If I was doing another half century on this ride, I might explore more. You can do it for me. You can have the skills that Jack had. They are inside the Universal capability.
For me, I will observe. Do you know what hurts most? Medical tape. Ripping off the tape. Swear words spoken in every language stream across consciousness when the tape comes off.
Adhesive blisters. I have a couple of blisters that formed under the tape around my port. The port is that Borg device under the skin on my chest. When I stepped in the door, home for the first time, they burned and throbbed. What about the four inch zipper in my lower abdomen? Nothing.
Blood draws and IV placement in the back of the hands. The worst. And my hands hold memory. They will complain for months. They were still nagging about the last time in the hospital. Sharing their memories. Causing echo pain. And today the new bruises span from middle finger to pinkie, purple and sad. Sigh. There will be a lot of apologies and discussions with the hands. For the record, I did ask to protect them. I did try.
And the new colon opening in my upper left? Quiet.
micheleplumbstowell.org 