Fighting Illness to so something you Love - pt2
I went to the gig. I made it there, I had a wonderful time and I made it back again. Yay! Go me!
I’ve had a coupe of people I know wonder why I went in the first place. Most of them still wonder. I came back limping, bruised and exhausted. I have slept on and off for the last couple of days since I got back, and my hip is still swollen and very painful.
I feel better today in terms of pain and have definitely spent more time awake and coherent today than I have since I flew back.
I’m a little worried about the gigs coming up, but there will not be anything I can do about them until its time to go. I’ve organised as best I can for them and will just have to hope I can stay awake on the day.
This gig was just the one day. Its been a great warm up for the others and has taught me that I am definitely going to need a nap before each upcoming show, or I won’t make it through the gig without sitting down – preferably on a chair, which I know for sure will not be an option. Tons of (good) strong coffee and energy drink helped this time round so I’m going to make sure they are available for the next go too.
This trip has also made me realise I’m going to need a heat pack of some sort… that’s going to be interesting for the first two because I can’t take my gel click packs in my hand luggage and there is no way I’m paying for a suitcase… hmmmm something to ponder upon between now and then.
The rest of it I think I planned very well. I flew in early to give me time for a lie down before the gig, and flew back later the following day, allowing me a long lie in (check out was 12 noon) in the morning, and plenty of extra time for the airport. I even managed to get an hour’s lie down at the airport to take the pressure off my hip and knees.
Planning in advance definitely worked in my favour.
Didn’t stop me ending up exhausted and in pain though.
What my friends really don’t understand is just how much this gig meant to me. How much it was totally worth every second of discomfort and pain just to be there… because if you LOVE music the way I do, and you go to see and band/musician/singer you LOVE, then the moment the music starts…. Nothing else matters!
It doesn’t matter how awful your day, your week or even your year has been – when the band you loves gets on stage and they music starts… nothing, but nothing else matters but the music.
I sang along, I danced (badly and at significant cost later but seriously its impossible for me NOT to dance along) and had the most amazing time. So much so that the buzz from the gig managed to get me all the way back to the place I was staying before I realized my toe was agony as was both of my knees… Turns out I managed to tear a toe nail on top of everything else… Lucky I took a small first aid kit with me.
I met some lovely people whist I was waiting to get in, who totally understood about travelling for gigs. The first six people I spoke to were going to two more of the dates on this tour. Four of them were also doing several other dates of another bands tour, and one of them is going to at lest two of the dates I have coming up later! It made me feel like less of a crazy person for having flown over “just to see a band”.
There is a lady I admire who runs a music blog and I recently found out she also blogs about chronic pain and the affect it has on her life. She recently went to a series of gigs much like the ones I have coming up.
Her issues are different to mine, but we have the same difficulties sometimes with travelling to shows, the need to dance, surviving the pain, the aftermath…
It’s reassuring to know that she also goes to gigs for the exact same reason I do – the music alone is worth it, but a part of it is also not letting your problem get the better of you.
Its good to know I am not alone.
There is a lyric I love… “I will not sit down, I will not shut up and I will not grow up”
I will continue going to gigs for as long as am physically able to, because this music is music I LOVE. I will not give up.
See you at the next gig!