Trade-offs

I find routinely that I am in situations that require two opposing situations, qualities or priorities. Just simply exchanging one thing for another. 

By definition, those are trade-offs. 

Trade-offs are often very conscious ones, such as, spend energy now or later.

Unfortunately some trade-offs are side-effect exchanges such as, brain fog or weight gain? 

Insomnia or back pain? 

Pills or injections?

Treat at home or in office infusions requiring waiting time and travel?

Others are wishful thinking trade-offs such as: 

I would trade the back pain for leg pain

 or 

I would trade more pain in my hands to have less pain in my feet. 

Or even, I would trade any amount of pain to have clear vision again. 

Are those trade-offs if they can't even happen? Probably not. They are manifestations of idealism or wishful/wistful thinking. 

Perhaps even worse, the bargaining is an indicator that medical systems and interventions are simply failing. So many of the "interventions" for rheumatoid arthritis have inexplicable effects on inflammation. Simply put, no one knows why they work. 

Bargaining is maintaining the illusion of personal control over an unceasing inflammatory process that eliminates choices and erodes esteem to the point that the goal is no longer pain-free or painless daily life but some variation of less pain that might be tolerable.

I wonder how many people with conditions characterized by chronicity experience this internal trade-off dialogue.