Going out tonight? What does a day/night out look like for me.
What does that look like for a person suffering from chronic pain and his or her partner ?
Choose Life, choose this choose that. Ewan McGregor carries this off well in both of the Trainspotting movies. From the moment you wake up in the morning, that’s if you mange to sleep, to that moment when you shut your eyes at night and drift off back to the land of nod.
We choose when we wash, what we are going to wear, what we are going to eat, choose what the kids are going to wear to school, choose where and when you walk the dug. We all have these choices and choosing what we are going to do all the time.
So for a few months now, me and Kirsty choose to go to see: Nashville Live in Concert. This was a few weeks ago now at the SECC Hydro in Glasgow. So due to my disabilities and general health, we have to carefully choose: where will we sit in the venue; where will we stay – this itself can throw up a range of problems for me with all the usual stuff thrown in: budget, closeness to venue, is there lifts in the hotel, does the room have a safe for my medications etc etc. In the past a lot of things wouldn’t bother me when going for a night out, weekend, holiday etc.
Then just before I leave a hotel room, or when back home before going out I have to work out how long does the gig last for and what medications I have to take with me. These medications are usually my ‘core medications’, the ones that are for pain relief throughout the day. I take these at specific times throughout the day. Then just in case I take a ‘pain flare up’ when I am out I make sure to take my ‘breakthrough meds’ with me.So after that, it’s out for a rare night out due to how I am and hopefully it goes without any flare ups.
Back to the night of the ‘Nashville gig’. One of my core medications and main one for breakthrough pain is methadone. So this usually comes in a 150mg bottle, along with a syringe to measure what I have to take. So when we were going through security at the Hydro and when I had the body check by a security guard, we had a laugh when he came across it as he genuinely thought that I had a cough bottle with me. This was in my jacket pocket and he really wasn’t interested in me showing him what it was. I was shocked at first, as more often than not I have to give an explanation to security staff but thought no more of it!
I would hardly say that I’m a big fan of country music, but I enjoyed the music in the Nashville series and I really enjoyed this gig. Thinking back to the gig at the time of writing this, I had my core meds with me and my methadone for breakthrough. I experienced a flare up midway through the second set, Not to miss any of the gig instead of going to a toilet to take my methadone I sat at my seat and had it. This it’s self threw up a range of issues for me, the main one is the lightning in the arena, it was pretty tricky measuring the correct amount but I managed. Then there’s the mind wondering what people sitting next to me will think, but to hell with that when I was in so much pain.
Kirsty and I really enjoyed the gig and instead of staying out a wee while later for a drink as Nathan was staying with his gran parents, we had to go back to the hotel. This was due to tiredness and ‘normal ongoing pain’. After a decent nights sleep it’s then back to the normal routine day to day stuff we all do; get washed get dressed go for breakfast, then go about our day. As we were staying away from home, it was making sure I had enough meds with me in case of all eventualities chronic pain sufferers put up with every day.
We enjoyed this gig and rare night out, but it did take it out of me.I started writing this article when we got home from Glasgow, but it just sat doing nothing for several weeks now in my documents folder before finishing it. I wrote about this night out as I wanted to give people an idea of what a night out is like for me and Kirsty.
We were on holiday last week in Turkey, so can you imagine what it must be like to make sure that I have enough meds on me!
Please feel free to comment on this.
One Of Fifteen 