We all have our minor changes from when we wake up in the morning to that period at the end of the day. With chronic pain sufferers that change can be as different as a bull and a peacock or as close together as a bull and a neutered bull. It all depends on what amount of pain we can control or maintain throughout the course of the day and where we end up pain wise at days end. Now unlike most your day involves work, maybe some time at the gym, playing with the kids or going out with the girlfriend or wife for dinner and a chronic pain sufferer, our days (some of us) go from getting up, slowly, working out the kinks from the night before. Doing morning routine to get family off to school, program or work. By then it’s another round of stretching and walking to try and stretch out those last bit of kinks from last night. While doing this I will normally be getting everything set up for work, getting PC up and running, transferring phones off of office machine over to cell phone, waking printers up, etc. This is done stretching while standing to things going. Then it’s work, dogs, work, now here’s where I would need a break to either apply ice or heat or sometimes both, depending on what type of night and morning I’ve had. You can then put repeat, repeat here until around 3 pm – 4 pm, this is when Robert makes gets home. He’s not that big of an issue its just all the little things that go into caring for him and its enough where I can lay down or take the dogs for a walk so I keep doing what was on the morning list until he’s done and stretch a lot more now being its almost the end of the work day. Around 5 pm is when my medications have worn off (100%) and I am more than due for the evenings dose and a nap or at least another heat/ice pad, maybe a few minutes of quite or yes another stretching session. Our two labs who are the court protectors are barking at anything and everything that comes into or walks across their court, all day long.
So trying to get work done (which is via phone) or getting blogs written take forever and gives me headaches 3-4 times a week and when Trish comes home or the transport van for Robert is arriving in the morning or dropping him off in the afternoon, I kid you not they hear her car and the van coming before they even make it into the court. Trying to calm them down when their 50 and 85 pounds, running around excited that someone is coming to our house, finally holding onto them when Robert is trying to get into the house with his walker is a strain on my back which I usually recovery from pretty quickly. When you add up the daily pains from sitting, then standing which set off my back, the dogs, trying to work, all the stretching (7-8 times a day or more) then add in the laundry, dishes, etc. the pain level I experience first thing in the morning is pretty close to is not worse at the end of the day. I could honestly say that this is most likely the same for many chronic pain sufferers. I know that I am open with my expressions when in pain, I grunt, groan, moan, grab my back or legs so you can tell by my face and body language just about how much pain I’m in so next time your caree, husband or wife makes a face of utter disgust, know that it may have nothing to do with you, they are most likely in more more pain then they are telling you. You can grab the old hospital standby card that still in use today in some hospitals (show here) 
Now you’ve seen my morning picture of morning pain so here now is me with the afternoon pain. Still in pain just a lot more colorful.
– Pain without Humor is just Painful
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– Richard0593
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