the Gift of Pain

did you know, Pain's a gift... I read it from this book by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand.

Just a brief intro of what I learnt from that book. It was a really good book...
Did you know leprosy victims can't feel pain?
and you know the horror that PAINLESSNESS brings about. Maybe not being able to feel pain is a scary thing... And leprosy causes your nerves to malfunction... and victims lose their sense of pain.

That is why, leprosy patients treat their hands and legs as mere tools... not as a part of themselves. When a nail gets stuck in their hand, they don't realise it. Some stick their hand into hot burning coals to remove a piece of meat that fell between the grills. Others just lose their sense of sight because their eyes dry up... they don't realise that they have to blink to replenish that layer of moisture that protects their eyes. Some run on their fractured ankles twisted at awkward 180degree positions, using their injured legs as though they were stilts to run upon...

And the most fearsome thing about leprosy, is that some lose their hands, their nose, certain parts of their body just drop off or disappear... people once thought the disease ate up their noses. But what Dr. Paul Brand found out, was that when they were sleeping at night, rats do come and bite off their faces, or their fingers, or their nose, or their toes... and so, Siamese cats are great pals for leprosy patients.

Anw, after reading the book I had wondered what it feels like w/o pain. I mean, yah, we are so used to feeling pain, and try imagine you couldn't feel pain at all, it's quite hard. I tried... and I couldn't really guess how it was like.

and you know, the operation showed me a bit of things. Yea, appreciate your nerves! You know right after the operation, I couldn't feel my lips at all. Pinch them, rub your fingers over them, glide across them, you don't feel a thing. They are numb... painless.

And so the nurse said it'll take a few hours for the anesthesia to lose its effect.
And when I woke up immediately after the operation, my right gum was aching. There was no pain in my left gum though...

I waited... I went home... I slept...And I woke up.

And WHen I WOKE up, whoa! I could feel the left side of my lower lip.

And but when I crossed my finger to the right side, I couldn't feel a thing.

For Your Info: The nerves that is responsible for touch/pain in your lips and chin lies just below the wisdom teeth. And I guess, they must have bruised my right nerve. It normal to bruise your nerves I heard, but don't severe them... And that must have accounted for the terrible ache I felt in my right gum. And so, it may have had taken a longer time to heal.

And but, it was so real... you know. Biology, Science... how your body is actually abled and designed to feel with nerve impulses. Exactly at the half way mark, the mid line of my lips down to my chin, on the right side, I couldn't feel a thing. Move to the left side of my lips/chin, I could feel sensation... pinch the left and you get pain. pinch the right and you don't feel a thing...

It's amazing how we are made symmetrical. and the nerves... so real...

And so, That's what its like to be without pain, or sensation... just like what I read from the book, The GIFT of pain. And it's just a glimpse of how we much we should treasure Pain, the very thing that we dread... but protects us from danger or harm.

So it was later at night... hmm about 1a.m. before I went to sleep, I tried touching my right lip/chin, and could feel a little... tingling sensation. But nothing more than that.

ANDDDD you know, when I woke up this morning, I could feel my whole lips and chin again.

thank God.