You must live with the limitations that occurs when your body prevents you from moving because of the intractable pain you have experienced. Our friends and family members try to be helpful, but after they leave, it is you who must lie in bed debilitated and disabled.
I speak from personal experience. I had the misfortune to wake up Sunday morning being unable to walk. I had excruciating low back pain. I could not stand up straight. Unlike my clients, I was not involved in any accident or trauma. Thinking this was a muscle spasm I took ibuprofen and went back to lie down. Didn’t help.
No matter which way I lay in bed, I was in exquisite pain. Even muscle relaxers did not help. I was incapacitated the entire day. Every movement I made to eliminate my agonizing pain proved futile. My family felt bad for me. They could see the pain etched on my face. They had never seen me like this before.
Nighttime was no better. The next morning, hoping to put all this behind me, I realized once again that I could not get up to go to work. Every twist and turn of my body produced massive amounts of low back pain. My wife felt terrible. My kids felt awful. My mother-in-law was upset to see me like this.
On day three, when I recognized that this was not going away by itself, I made an appointment with the orthopedist.
The next time a client of mine comes in and tells me how difficult it was for them to get into their car to drive somewhere because of their pain, I will be able to relate to exactly what they are talking about.
Getting into and out of a car is simple for a healthy person. We don’t even think about it. However, someone who is in terrible pain must go through endless maneuvers and small little steps to contort their body to get into a car. If you can imagine how painful it is to lay flat in bed, just imagine how much more difficult it is to be in a sitting position.
Pain is life’s window into hell. We do everything possible to eliminate and avoid pain. When we have a cavity, the dentist will give us medicine so we don’t feel pain. If we have surgery, the doctor will put us to sleep so we don’t feel pain. The pharmaceutical industry makes billions of dollars a year for creating pills to reduce and eliminate pain.
Our bodies are amazing. Our mind tells us when we have pain so that we stop doing the activity that is causing it. Our mind also tries to make us forget about the horrible pain we have experienced in the past. That is why when someone we know tells us they are in pain, we can relate on some level but never truly “feel” their pain.
My trip to the doctor confirmed that I have an acute clinical herniated disc. This was not exactly what I wanted to hear but explained the cause of my intolerable pain. Immediate treatment included steroids to reduce the inflammation in my low back.
Why do I tell you all this?
As healthy people, we take for granted what happens when an injured victim must live with their injuries and disabilities. Pain is just a word to people who have never experienced such an injury. Without truly understanding and being in the shoes of someone who has gone through that problem, we can never truly feel their pain.
When we bring a lawsuit seeking compensation for your injuries, we always include a claim for past pain and suffering and future pain and suffering. Those phrases have become so clichéd and overused that the majority of people simply don’t understand what they mean.
My goal as a practicing trial attorney is to get the jury to recognize that the pain you have experienced is unique to you. Our minds eliminate unpleasant experiences and it is my job to get the jury to visualize the pain you are experiencing on a daily basis.
Right now, I’m going to go lie down and reduce the pain I’m experiencing while writing this article.
To learn more about how lawsuits work in the State of New York, I encourage you to explore my educational website. If you have legal questions pick up the phone and call me at 516-487-8207 or by e-mail at lawmed10@yahoo.com. I welcome your call since this is what I do every single day.
Gerry practices law exclusively in the State of New York. Within New York he practices primarily in the following counties: New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk. Technically, Brooklyn is known as "Kings County," and Manhattan and New York City are known as "New York County." Staten Island is known as "Richmond County." These counties make up the New York metropolitan area.
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