The seige
Cindy in Iceland
I’ve started calling them “Pain Sieges.”
Siege, Noun, ˈsēj also ˈsēzh 1b : a persistent or serious attack (as of illness).
Synonyms: attack, bout, seizure, case, spell, access, fit, turn.
The pain comes suddenly often rising from a 4 (on the pain scale) to an 8 in just a few seconds. The worst attacks max out the scale (10) for as long as an hour — no time to catch her breath, no release, just pain. The pain meds are not reliably able to extinguish the roaring pain, but it rushes forward consuming all of her strength and then leaving her weak and exhausted.
From Wed - Thursday there were probably 14 attacks, like a persistent army attacking retreating, regrouping and then coming back again.
From Thursday night until Friday there have been 4.
The worst ones come at night. Last night from 12:45AM-2AM, then again at 7AM-8:45AM. At about 4 PM and again at about 7PM two surprise attacks were launched. They each lasted closer to 45 min and maxed out at 9 instead of 10 (progress).
In comparison to Wed and Thrusday it was a better day, but it would be impossible to sustain daily living under such an assault.
We are praying that each day will bring some healing and some diminishing of the pain.
We can feel our anxiety rising because night is coming.
“We’d better get back, ‘cause it’ll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night… mostly.”
The dogs are rarely more than a few feet away. They keep reaching out to Cindy, attentive to her in ways that are not typical.
