Gainful Pain

I realized the other day that I was frequently using a stock phrase to reply to this question: "So what's it like getting rituximab?"

I find myself saying simply, No pain.......no gain. Meaning that the weeks following a cycle of infusions are not exactly a walk in the park, but grinding my way through the resulting leaden fatigue and crazy prednisone burst and taper symptoms are worth every minute once my energy levels begin to rise. Ahhhhhh.........

No pain, no gain used to conjure up an enormously different scenario for me, back in the days of Jazzercise classes (My goodness. Are those still around? Or is it all Zumba now?) and four mile morning walks; when the gainful pain took the form of sore muscles and sweaty leg warmers. Yes. Leg warmers. Sheesh.

I NEVER looked this good in my leg warmers. There's a reason that a picture of me wearing them isn't in existence. Image found here. 

But rituximab pain isn't really physically painful at all, just frustrating and boring and exhausting.

Does that qualify as real, legitimate pain?