My Pillow, My Life

I have chronic neck pain that I believe stemmed from an untreated injury in a car accident in 1993. Probably whiplash - soft-tissue injury that's hard to prove or disprove (learned from an episode of Law & Order, hee hee.) Over the years the pain has become more and more pronounced, frequent, and plaguing. And through the years I've had to switch pillows every 3-6 months, depending on the pillow. It's a cost that gets irritating. I've tried everything from polyester to buckwheat to NASA-techonology "memory" foam... It's not a matter of doling out cash like clockwork - I would gladly bend over and take it if something would just work that didn't require a replacement at least twice a year.

When a pillow starts to fail me, I would not get restful sleep. I'd wake up at 2 or 3 in the morning, try to fluff the sucker in vain, unable to fall back asleep, and finally have to take ibuprofen. I would get up in the morning feeling stiff, and take more ibuprofen.

When a pillow loses its loftiness, you can fluff all you want, and it will never resume the form in its prime.

Sorta like a relationship. Sorta like life.

My current pillow has passed its prime. It's 5 months old, and lopsided. We're talking major disfigurement. On some days my pain extends down to my shoulders, arms and chest. I can't go through a night without flipping it twice or thrice.

Then last night, I was able to get a relatively good night's sleep - by staying on my pillow's good side. I didn't think it could be done, but there I got it. It takes some tricky maneuvering to make the most out of imperfection.

... Sorta like life.