So. Hospital folk are always asking Rebec to rate her pain on a scale of 1 -10. You know…10 being the worst pain you can imagine, and 0 being pain free. Pain is always what the patient says it is – not what the care provider thinks it might be, or otta be etc. Rebecca however decided to overthink this approach just a wee little bit – and being who she is – tended to avoid the extravagance & self absorption of those high end numbers. Hence the worst I ever heard her report her pain was “7”, and the best she reported was a “5”….. so much for numerical range!

No, wait a minute - maybe it IS a "7"

No, wait a minute - maybe it IS a "7"

Luckily nobody else bought into her scoring system and they just kept bringing large quantities of Narcotic to deal with this “mid range” pain. It is only now, a day or two before discharge that Rebecca understands that actually – the pain of 10 rib fractures/bilateral clavicles – can acceptably be described as a !#@$%^&*++&^%$++# 10 !
Rebec reports that she just assumed there must be worst pain than this.. and offered the cutting your own arm off as an example ?? While technically she might be correct there – most of the nursing staff assured her that THOSE individuals just go ahead a rate their pain at 100,229 – give or take.
At any rate, Rebec now gets that the pain scale and dressage scores do not work the same way, and that 10 is (or was) regularly and consistently achievable. Just to prove a point, she is now obnoxiously rating everything from food temperatures, hair braids and nail polish color…. On a scale of 1 thru 10.