 So something really important I've learned about physical pain since becoming an amputee is that context matters. I deal with some really intense phantom pain, which is pain that is entirely real and how I experience it, but it poses no threat to me. Like, no one is actually stabbing my foot, so there's no danger, but in the moments when it hits, it is some of the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. How I emotionally process that pain is a lot easier. Don't get me wrong, it is real pain and it can be excruciating, but understanding that it is not a warning flag that my body is throwing up, I stepped on a knife, I got hit by a cow prod, and it's just my nervous system freaking out. Once I have that context for the pain, I find that I'm able to let go of it a lot faster, it's not as upsetting to me, and I know that that intense pain is going to pass. So while it absolutely still sucks, I find that having the context for the pain, understanding what it is, really lowers the amount of anxiety that I feel about it, and helps the pain be less upsetting and pass faster for me.