"The Pain Scale"

Reading The Pain Scale definitely aroused some confusion for me. Eula Biss questions almost every theory, belief, and/ or "fact" she presents through out the text. But, ultimately what I interpreted Biss to be saying is that pain is something that can not be measured or categorize. Pain is pain, depending on how you take it. In the text Biss mentions "Determining the intensity of my pain is a blind calculation."(26) By this I believe the author is saying that the amount of pain she's in is one that is unable to be referenced or scaled.  Measuring the amount of pain you're in is almost like making and questionable guess. Then, the author compares the subject of pain to 0. Something in the text that caused both interest and confusion was when she stated "Zero is a number the way Christ was a man." (25) I interpreted what Biss was trying to explain is that just like Christ, zero is real but with unreal characteristics. Both Christ and zero can not be manipulated, increased, reduced, or even categorize. The author wants us to use this analogy in order to relate to how the number zero will always be zero so therefore pain will always be pain and by placing it on a scale causes pain to be manipulated. In fact, another interesting point that was brought to my intention in both the text and in class was that what may be pain to you may not be pain to someone else. I also believe that Biss is confused about pain in general in a way due to how she was raised because states that "My father raised me to believe that most pain is minor."(26) and then she goes on to state how he undermined her little cuts and bruises. But, at the time those cuts and bruises could have been considered pain to her. Even when your're asked how much pain you are in it is very hard for the person who is asking you to relate because they can not feel what you are feeling. Biss statement "There was nothing to illustrate my pain except a number, which I was told to choose from between zero and ten." (28) was definitely thought provoking. Although some pain isn't clearly coming from a bruise or a wound it can still be felt but you can only use a number to try to explain to a doctor that it's there.