Avoiding Depression: Try to Stay Ahead of the Pain

When our oldest son was ten, he broke his femur skiing and ended up in the hospital for six weeks with his leg in traction.

The pain wasexcruciating, and I still remember one thing the nurse told us: Try to stay ahead of the pain.

In other words, don’t wait until the pain is so overwhelming you can’t stand it before you take the pain meds. Instead, take them on a schedule: every four hours.Because if you wait until it really starts hurting, it’s almost impossible to get rid of.

The same is tr...