If you watched CNN even sort of often over the past couple of decades, you’re familiar with Miles O’Brien, who, as I recall, evolved into their space guy.
I always liked him. (Full disclosure: I once went to a wedding where he was present, though I did not meet him. Therefore I consider him a dear, dear friend.)
A few months ago, after a bizarrely mundane accident, O’Brien lost his left arm to something called “acute compartment syndrome.”
Now he has written about what it’s like going through life without one arm.
Here’s the essay. It’s a terrific and honest essay (and I don’t mean “honest” the way people often use it, to mean “raw.”)
Here is how he describes phantom pain, which is a real thing:
The biggest problem I cope with is phantom pain. My arm has become a ghost, immobilized as if it were in a sling—which is where it was the last time I saw it. If I concentrate, I can move my imaginary fingers. The arm feels as if it’s been asleep and the circulation has just begun once again. First thing in the morning, it’s actually a pleasant, painless feeling. My arm is suspended, almost as if it is weightless. But as the day goes on, it feels as if it is progressively bound tighter and tighter, to the point of excruciating pain. In addition, my fingers often feel as if they’ve been jolted with surges of electricity.
I don’t know; just read it. It will help you know exactly how much you can take.