"Sin Dolor"

T. Coraghessan Boyle, whose fiction "Sin Dolor" was featured in the Oct. 15th edition of the New Yorker, has spent most of his life in the classroom. He has been teaching for many years and is currently an English professor at the University of Southern California.

"Sin Dolor" is a story of a young boy, Damaso, with a genetic mutation that does not allow him to feel pain. After being rushed to the emergency for severe burns one day, Damaso meets a doctor, bored by his profession, and eager to examine this eccentric condition. The doctor becomes caught up in this miraculous medical messiah and treats Damaso with a lack of empathy. As the story progresses, the doctor comes to understand this young boys struggles and trys to ease his pain--a feeling Damaso is unable to associate with or understand.

Pain is a protective sense, and protects us from further pain and harm. It is the prick on the finger that tells us to let go, or the burn on our skin that tells us to back away. Pain is a reflex, a shield, and without it, Damaso ironically cannot defend himself from the bruise, scar, or burn. These wounds, which cause him no physical harm, become overwhelming and begin to pain his inner, psychological self. I thought this story was interesting becuase it is an actual true medical problem. I remember flipping through the channels and stumbling on a clip on Oprah about a documentary film featuring children who cannot feel pain.

Here's the website if you feel so inclined... http://alifewithoutpain.com/about.php
There's even a video clip!