One of the questions I am asked almost every time a nurse or physician visits my room is “How is your pain on a scale of 1 to 10?” I hate this question and stumble every time trying to answer it.
When I was first asked the question, I had to ask “What is the unit of measurement?” (I am an engineer … anything that is measured has a unit of measure!). I got a quizzical look after which I was told “0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain you ever experienced.” This response didn’t help me much.
Why do I struggle so much to answer what is seemingly a simple question? Because I find it nearly impossible to compare my current pain to yesterday’s pain unless there is a considerable change. Further, I can’t remember what my worst pain felt like, much less compare my current pain to it.
Over the past three years I have been poked, prodded, scoped, and scanned. Each of these examinations and tests generated either an objective measurement or the subjective assessment of an expert. I appreciate that there is no similar objective measure of pain and that my medical team is trying their best to manage my pain. I ask that they bear in mind that what is seemly a simple question is quite difficult for me to answer.
Thanks for listening,
Mike
The Cancer Card 
Pain scoring is a difficult process for alot of people. Sounds like your care team is ready and willing to be able to manage pain.
Love you and praying that your team will find the right formulation for your comfort.
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I’m with you Mike on the relevance of the pain scale. It’s subjective of course: a 10 for one person is a 5 for another. Plus the pain has a way of coming and going, making the tracking of pain (presumably the point of the medical people want the data) next thing to useless. When my wife was on long-term treatment and we were frequently in the Cancer Centre for testing, treatment, recovery, the pain varied with each visit, often low to none. But the day before it might have been acute. Perversely, her pain level was most often low every time she was in for routine tests and treatments so the accumulated record of her pain didn’t match her actual experience. You have to wonder if the recording of pain is just a diversion.
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One of the objectives of this blog is to offer a patient’s perspective on the various facets of the care I am receiving. I just want people to know that I have difficulty answering the pain rating question. I swear to you that I must look like a deer caught in the headlights every time they ask me to rate my pain.
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