Nerve Pain

Nerve pain sucks. It often comes on suddenly for Jeff, and there's nothing he or I can do to stop it. He just has to wait it out.

Nerve pain is different from physical pain. Since Jeff only has normal sensation in his head, face, neck, and upper shoulders, that's where he can feel physical pain. And that pain is usually in his neck. And it's chronic. Always there. Some days it's better than others. Sometimes massage or stretching helps. Sometimes medication helps. Sometimes nothing helps.

Nerve pain is a different beast altogether. And it's hard to accurately describe. Jeff doesn't have sensation below his shoulders, but there are times when he can "feel" his hands. That may sound like a good thing, but when nerve pain is behind it, it's really not. Jeff says it sometimes feels like his hands are submerged in ice. So cold it hurts.

Sometimes his whole body is affected by nerve pain, and he feels so incredibly cold. He once joked to me saying he felt like Han Solo frozen in carbonite (gotta love his sense of humor). But nerve pain is no joke. He takes medication for it, but we don't think it helps.

Sometimes the only thing that helps is distraction.

Last night when we got him back in bed, his nerve pain was intense. So we decided to have a little snuggle time with Evie as a treat. My night duties to get Jeff ready for bed take 2-3 hours to complete, so Evie is usually long asleep by the time I get my bed out and put it next to Jeff's. (I sleep on an inflatable mattress next to Jeff's bed.) But last night we changed up the routine a bit and put the bed out early. Evie made sure Daddy was covered with his Charger blanket, then climbed into my bed, and pulled up the covers. Then she taught us a song she learned earlier in the week at her school:

Two legs in the front
Two legs in the back
A cow has four legs
I know that!
But only one tail...Moo Moo

We sang several verses changing the animal each time.

Here we are enjoying some nighttime singing:

(Photos courtesy of Nana)

The singing helped distract Jeff from the nerve pain, but it didn't really go away until he fell asleep. Even then, he still felt "off" the next morning.

But it's nice to know that we have a little ray of sunshine to distract us from life's painful times.

Our Evie has been the best medicine for us.