The cost of pain.

I’m amazed at the high cost of chronic pain.  For three years I’ve lived with sometimes debilitating pain in my hips and legs.  It affects my ability to walk, to kayak, to golf.  It’s hard to sit.  Hard to stand.  Hard to do anything much, really.  I’ve put on weight because I can’t go for walks, or really do much of anything for more than a few minutes.  

The last month or so i’ve been waking up every hour because of the pain.  I have to shift positions and an hour later, do it again.  And then my arms started going numb while I slept.  They woke me up too.  I’m exhausted.  And cranky.  My brain is fuzzy.  I’m depressed.  My headaches are back.

Finally, I gave up.  I went to the chiropractor again because we finally have insurance that will cover the cost.  After just one adjustment, I slept three full hours.  After two adjustments, I slept three hours.  After a third adjustment, I slept 3 hours and then another three hours.  Even with so little sleep, I feel better.  More like myself.   My hips hurt.  My neck hurts, but not in the same way and not every moment.

And even with insurance, it will cost me almost $2000 to get the care I need (chiro, massage, PT) to get my life back.  

That seems wrong.