Fibromyalgia - It's a Lifetime Contract

I was going through some old files on the computer and found some things I wrote before I ever started this blog.  These were my feelings in 2010 about a year after I was forced to retire.  I'll be posting them over the next few days. Hope you enjoy them!

               *******************************************************************

Fibro came by tonight.  It’s Sunday night and Fibro seems to think that insomnia is a good thing on Sunday nights, so she brought some by and forced it on me.  I did everything I could today to not anger her but apparently it wasn’t enough.  I came straight home from church and changed into loose fitting clothes.  I didn’t do any housework or anything like that.  The only thing I did was sit at the sewing machine and enjoy myself.  I even got up and moved around and didn't sit there for long at a time.

Fibro was really nice.  Well, at least she thinks she’s being nice.  Fibro reminded me that she took care of that job that I had to get up and go to.  Now all I have to do is lie around, hurt and be tired all the time so why not stay up all night.  I loved my job.  I worked so hard to become a paralegal.  I love the law and contracts were my favorite thing to do.  Talking to the recruiters and the potential employees was so much fun. I enjoyed preparing their draft contracts and that let me know that I had chosen the right career. I will admit that I had the worse boss I had ever had in my professional career.  The co-workers weren’t so great either.  All I wanted to do was work a year so I had experience and then look for a job with a law firm.  

But no, Fibro couldn’t stand that I had plans for my future.  She had to stick her nose in my business and start taking away my memory.  Slowly she would sneak a bit of information out here and there until I couldn’t remember something from Monday to Wednesday.  Then Fibro snuck the pain in.  I could never get comfortable in my chair.  My back and legs hurt all the time and my hands would go to sleep if I held the phone in one hand for too long.  But she wasn’t happy with that.  Oh, no.  She wanted really show me what all she had to give me.  The pain got worse and worse until finally I could barely get dressed in the morning.  And the fatigue, Fibro threw a lot of fatigue in the mix.  When I finally got dressed and made it to work, the parking lot was yet another obstacle to face.  Walking to the building seemed like climbing Mt. Everest.  I could barely pick my feet up.  I guess Fibro put concrete in my shoes because they had to weigh 500 lbs.  So many times, I thought I was going to have to sit down in the street and rest to make it to the building.  Seems I have a life time contract with Fibro with no loop holes to void the contract.  She’s here to stay.  There’s nothing that I can do but watch her continue her hostile takeover of my body.

I have other lifetime contracts but they are not like my contract with Fibro.  I chose to make them and they give me joy and happiness, not pain and sorrow.

I have my marriage contract with Bill.  I love carrying that out.  I have the most wonderful, loving husband who does all he can to care for me when Fibro drops by.  In a way, Bill has a contract with Fibro too.  She’s taken so many of my hopes and dreams for the future and they were his hopes and dreams too.  We are a team, bound together by our love and our vow to God to be with each other “in sickness and health, till death do us part”.  He says I’m not a burden but I sure feel that way.  My Bill is always there for me even if he doesn’t know what to say. After all, what is there to say about Fibro.

Then there’s my contract with my children.  I have two of the most wonderful children that a mother could ask for.  They have taken care of me through my emotionally abusive marriage to their father and were there supporting me when I finally took their advice and ended it.  They were there with me when I was living on my own for the first time in my life.  And they are here for me now that Fibro is a part of my life.  They help to take up the slack and pitch in and help with the things that I can do longer do around here.  Like Bill, they’ve never done anything to make me feel that they love me less or consider me a burden to have to help now that Fibro is part of our family.

My last lifetime contract is the greatest of all.  It’s my contract with Jesus, my personal  savior. I can’t imagine what it must have been like during Jesus’ time on earth to actually be in His presence and hear His voice.“Now we believe, not just because of what you have told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves.  Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42)

I’ve not heard Him like they did but I have heard Him as He talks to me through His Word and in my heart.  I believe that He loves me unconditionally and one day I will live with Him in a wonderful, pain free body in a glorious world free of sickness and full of joy.  I know that He hears me when the pain and stress of Fibro is too hard to bear and I cry out to Him.  I feel His loving arms around me holding me close.   His “promise revives me; it comforts me in my troubles”. (Psalm 119:50)

It’s not for me to know or understand why I was given the contract with Fibromyalgia to bear on this earth.  I do know that God has a reason and I pray that in some small way I am able to carry out the work He has called me to.

Remember our Service Men and Women, Past and Present Today

Please take a minute to say a prayer for our service men and women and their families. Those currently serving, those who have served and those who lost their lives in defense of our freedoms all deserve our thanks and prayers. Their sacrifice is great so that we can freely live the American Dream.

I'm Still Alive!

Just checking in to say hello and let you know that I've not totally abandoned the blog.  I think I wrote about downsizing to a 2 bedroom condo in August last year.  Well, that didn't work out.  We were going nuts in such a small space so when our lease was up we found a house. Yep, two moves in six months. Yep, it did me in.

We moved the the last week of February to a cute little farm house out in the country.  So far out in the country that satellite internet is our only option.  :-) I was in bed most of March recovering from the move and the cold weather continuing through April didn't help my recovery.  Now that it's finally warm I'm making progress unpacking our things and finding a home for them.  It's very slow going and I'm getting rid of more and more stuff. I'm hoping our next move won't be for quiet sometime but I'm determined there will be a lot less to move!

Since we don't have internet at home yet, I'm getting to know the ladies at the local County Library really well. LOL I make the 10 mile drive into town several times a week to use the computer.  To say that I have had internet withdrawals is an understatement. I had just discovered the world of Pinterest before we moved and not being able to browse all the wonderful sewing and primitive decorating ideas there has been hard to adjust to.

I'm headed to see my grandchildren my daughter and her family tomorrow for about 10 days.  I think that I have things put away well enough that I can start writing again and then making the journey to the library to post.  It may take me a few days after I get back to rest but I'm ready to blog again.  Since my blogging has been hit or miss the last year you wouldn't think that I'd be missing it but I am.  Now that I've recovered from moving and some other stresses in my life, my pain is at a point where I actually feel like writing.

My time on the computer is almost over so I'll sign off.  Look to hear from me again soon.

A Day to Pray

As Christians, we need to constantly be in prayer for our country and our leaders.  We are at a place in history that finds us facing challenges that I would have never believed would happen in the United States of America.

Sunday, January 20, 2013 has been declared a Day of Prayer where we will ask God to grant our leaders, local and national, the wisdom they need for the road ahead. We gather to ask God for forgiveness and healing of our land and to bless our Country and her people. This is not a political rally but a spiritual event and hopefully one that can help bring us together as we move forward as a nation.

O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties. 

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

 

To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in States, Cities, and Towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and tofulfill our obligations in the community of nations.
 

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.

Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.

For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.

From the Book of Common Prayer (1979)

What a Way to Start the New Year

Back in October, I wrote about how I had new things planned for this blog.  The plan had been to launch the new and improved “My Life with Fibromyalgia Pain” January 1.  As you can tell, that didn’t happen.

We moved the end of August to downsize.  I couldn’t keep up a 1,500 sq ft house any longer and Bill was having trouble keeping up the half acre yard and helping me inside. Unfortunately, we went a little lot smaller than we should have.  I’ve been trying to find a place to fit just the stuff we use everyday somewhere in our 1,094 sq ft apartment.  (406 sq ft is a lot more space than I thought it was.) I'm not finding room for things no matter how hard I try. So sometime in March we are moving again.  I can’t believe I’m excited about moving twice in seven months but we can’t keep living in this little space.  We aren’t even living out of boxes because there are boxes filling the garage that we have nowhere to put to go through them.  And then there’s the huge rented storage locker.  Sigh…

We’ve found a wonderful 1920s Arts and Crafts home in a small town just across the Tennessee/Mississippi line. Having an Arts and Crafts home has been dream for both of us.  Here in Memphis, it wasn’t ever going to happen.  Because of the neighborhoods they are in and how few are available, they are way out of our price range. Several people have asked why we want to leave Memphis.  I’ve nothing against Memphis other than it’s loud; there are too many people, too much traffic, too much crime and very few people who care about the people around them.  I’m looking forward to being part of a place where Southern Hospitality is still practiced and they want to know your name. The town still has a vibrant downtown square with the county courthouse in the center.  The drug store still delivers and from what we’ve been told it won’t take long for the businesses we go in a lot to know our names. 

I have quite a bit of information gathered including an outline for my “How to Keep a Clean and Organized Home in spite of Fibromyalgia” ebook.  There’s one large problem.  It’s all on the hard drive of my computer that decided it had had enough and refused to do anything else.  Couldn’t get my files off.  Couldn’t get the pictures that I was organizing to burn to a disk. I’m sure that somewhere in its computer mind it’s still laughing at me,

Microsoft Clip Art

Our youngest son built the now dead computer for me several years ago when he upgraded his.  I was not looking forward to telling him that I thought I had killed it.  When I finally did tell him, he wasn’t upset.  He was expecting it not to last much longer.  Seems that although the outside looked really nice, everything on the inside was 5 or 6 years old.  Apparently that’s really old for computers.

He promised me another new to me computer when he came down for Christmas.  In the meantime, I had to learn to use my hubby’s Mac.  (No offense to Mac user but I hate it.)  Unfortunately, Dave wasn’t able to work his schedule to come down from Ohio but he did UPS me a new computer!  It has the latest Windows operating system on it (is that the right word for it?) so that’s been a learning curve but I’m back on my own PC!  Hopefully, he’ll be able to come down in March and retrieve the information on my old hard drive.

Microsoft Clip Art

Probably the biggest reason I'm behind on my blog plans is that I came down with what the doctors in our area are calling the 2 week flu.  In my case, it’s been more like 4 weeks. I'm sure the havoc that the fibro plays on our autoimmune system is the culprit there.  Mid December I developed what I thought was a simple cold.  When it was still hanging around a week later, I went to see my Advanced Nurse Practitioner.  She said it was a sinus infection and gave me 10 days of antibiotics. That was the 18^th. I had plans to visit our oldest daughter and her family the 26^th – 31^st and thankfully I was much better Christmas Eve.  I felt well enough to do Christmas with our family here and the 26^th I climbed aboard the City of New Orleans to head down to Jackson, Mississippi.  Other than arriving 2 hours late it was a good trip and I still felt well. 

About the 29^th that all changed.  The cough came back, the fever came back and I was miserable. I climbed back on the City of New Orleans the 31^st with my blanket and my cPap and slept the 5 hours home. We had planned to spend New Year’s Day with our family here but I had to back out. I was back to being so sick I could barely hold my head up.  January 2 saw me back at the doc’s office.  This time I walked away with two sore hips – Rocepherin in one side and prednisone in the other – and another prescription for an additional 10 days of antibiotics and one for prednisone.  I finished off those antibiotics earlier this week and so far, knock on wood; I think it’s gone.

So this is how my life has been the last few months.  My plan is to post something everyday even if it’s a picture or a joke because we definitely need to laugh.  I really do believe that a smile can take our mind off of our pain and the other hardships it causes even if it’s just for a minute.  I may even share how I’m coming along with finding places for the things we’re going to need for the next 6 weeks or so.  I’m also organizing and repacking things that family and friends packed because I was in a huge flare when it came time to move.

Lymphedema - It's Really Wierd

My "severe edema - lymphedema - severe edema - stasis dermatitis - lymphedema"  has been really weird for the last six months or so.  That's the only word I can think of.  I have always had trouble with edema during the summer but when fall comes around and the temps dropped, it pretty much goes away.  I actually have ankles through fall, winter, spring and even a little of summer.  This summer it came back with a vengeance.  I was back to only being able to wear my stretched out shoes and had a hard time walking. The hard time walking was a new problem from it for me.

An example of how severe swelling can be

For several years, my legs have "weeped" in the summer when they were so swollen.  They were so swollen that they could no longer hold the lymphatic fluid (did you know that we have lymph veins they carry lymph fluid down to your feet and back up again?) that collected in my legs and it was coming out through my skin.  It's just as gross as it sounds and it can range from a tiny drip to feeling like you've turned on a faucet.  Tiny drips feel weird but you get use to it and I keep a hankie close by to blot them.  The "faucet" weeping is scary.  I have one of those hard plastic things so you can roll your office chair on carpet under my sewing table.  Mother's Day this year I was sewing away when I moved my foot into what I thought was a puddle of water.  It wasn't water.  It was lymphatic fluid.  About a half cup full.  From my right leg.  I told you it was gross.

As the summer progressed, my shins became red and warm.  They were angry looking enough that  I  broke down   that Bill insisted that I make an appointment with my Nurse Practitioner to see what was wrong.  Not only did he insist on my going, he spent his day off at the doc's office with me so he got her diagnosis first hand.  The answer did not make either of us happy. 

Stasis Dermatitis Example

The red, warm and angry places on my shins was stasis dermatitis.  I had never heard of stasis dermatitis but when she started mentioning cellulitis she got my attention.  She even mentioned hospitalization and IV diuretics to get it under control.  We left the office with an antibiotic  prescription to hopefully fend off full blown cellulitis (it worked), a prescription for a strong diuretic and one for surgical compression hose.  I was also supposed to stay off my feet and keep them elevated as much as possible.

It was not a good time for staying off my feet.  This was in July and I was sorting, giving away, selling, throwing away and packing for us to be out of our house by August 31.  Out of our 3 bedroom house, with a big attic and a garage full of junk mixed in with the good stuff.  And we downsized too.  From a 1,500 square foot three bedroom house to a 1,094 square foot two bedroom condo.  I had to sort through and get rid of lots of stuff.  And she wanted me to stay off my feet. And keep them propped up.  It made life interesting.  

I hit Google looking for information on lymphedema and stasis dermatitis thinking that maybe I could show Bill that it really wasn't as bad my NP had made it sound.  What I read really made me get serious about staying off my feet as much as I could.

Livestrong.com has a good article on the 5 Things You Need to Know About Stasis Dermatitis.  Here's my summary of the 5 things:

1. Stasis dermatitis is a skin condition on your lower legs caused by excess fluid building up under the skin. It cause large sores, bacterial infections of the skin, difficult-to-heal leg ulcers or even bone infection below the ulcers. Like our fibromyalgia, this can be a chronic condition but it can be managed once you determine what is causing the edema.
2. Medical conditions that cause poor circulation cause stasis dermatitis when the excess fluid build up to severe edema.  When that happens the blood can't do it's job of taking care of the cells or eliminate waste products. This causes your skin to be malnourished and ulcers begin to form. Because the skin is malnourished, ulcers may open that are extremely difficult to heal due to lack of proper nourishment from the blood.
3. When your lower legs, especially your ankles start to swell, keep a careful watch for stasis dermatitis.  Some people (including me) have a deep ache in the legs. If you skin becomes thin and/or thick and dark it's time to have your doctor check it out. The skin will get really dry and itch like crazy!  DON'T SCRATCH!!!  At this point the skin is so thin that you can open your skin causing them to bleed.  Open skin invites infection.
4. To treat the stasis dermatitis, your doctor will look for the illness causing you to retain so much extra fluid and get that under control. How it is controlled depends on the cause. (In my case it's caused by venous insufficiency.)  It's very important to improve circulation to the legs to reduce swelling. Compression stockings help but trust me putting them on can be very painful.  One of my fibro symptoms is being tender to touch.  The swelling makes it worse so I was in tears when I put my hose on for several weeks. Prop your feet up anytime you can.  If you can prop them up about your heart, that's even better.  If you've developed skin ulcers your doctor may treat them by prescribing antibiotic ointments and medicated compresses.
5. Prevention is important. If you have a medical condition that restricts circulation to the legs, take precautions to prevent stasis dermatitis before it gets so bad that ulcers begin to form. If you sit or stand for long periods of time, try to take a break every hour or so to walk around and get your blood moving. I've find that my swelling gets really bad when I loose track of time sitting at the computer.
   
   
   I hope this helps take some of the mystery out of lymphedema.  You can find more information at the websites listed below.
   
   The National Lymphedema Network
   Lymphatic Research Foundation
   The National Library of Medicine
   The Mayo Clinic

The Countdown is On! A Change is Coming!

After being gone for so long from this blog, it looks like I'm coming back to it soon.  We've had a roller coaster ride over the last 9 months.  Some was fibro related, other things became fibro related because of the stress that threw me into a flare from dealing with it.  I've got a post started I'll share with you next week about the craziness around the Martin house.

When I started this blog, I was in constant pain that pretty much never got lower that a 7 and when it did, it didn't stay there long.  I found an awesome pain management specialist and have learned a lot about how to pace myself.  Because of this, I am managing my pain pretty well and keeping it in the 4, 5, and 6 levels most of the time.  I still have plenty of days that hit an 8, 9, or 10. I'm just blessed to have some good days in between them now.

I've had lots of time to think about what I wanted to do blog wise. I thought about just abandoning it - for a very short period of time.  I thought about how boring my pain is this days and figured if it was boring to me, it probably would be to you guys as well. I definitely feel that I'm to be an advocate for those of us who suffer with chronic pain. So I'm coming back.

I'm coming back with new ideas that I want to share.  In addition to hearing about how fibromyaliga rules my life, I want to share research information, articles on our illnesses and have some guest bloggers come in.  I've also thought about doing some giveaways.  :-)

I don't know about you but housework, grocery shopping, menu planning and cooking can really be HUGE problems for me when I pain is really bad.  I'll be sharing ways to get these things done with your pain and how to keep these things from increasing your pain.

We need to relax whenever we can but I have a hard time just sitting watching TV or playing on the computer.  I'll be sharing ideas for activities that will be both relaxing and fun.  Right now I'm thinking about book reviews, blog reviews, crafts and sewing/quilting.


Sundays will be a no writing day.  My plan is to share something with you that had an impact on my life that week through pictures and/or a Bible verse.


I'd love to hear what you think about these ideas.  Is this the kinds of things you'd like to see?  Should I stop writing all together? What do you want to see on the pages of My Life with Fibromyalgia pain? Please let me know through a comment.

Independence Day

Please say Thank You to active duty members of the military, reservist and veterans that you know or meet for protecting our freedoms.

Thank their families as well.  The spouses keep things going on the home front so that those in the military can complete their mission without worry for what's going on at home.  It's a hard task to be Mom and Dad.

I'm Back! I Hurt! What's New?

I can't believe that I've not posted since January 14!  So much for part of the life changes I had planned. I did a update on how they are coming along over on Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady. 

It's been crazy around here since Thanksgiving. I wrote about some of it  here and here.

Between the holidays, kids coming to visit, sinus infections, a reaction to a new drug, the flu and the stomach flu, not much of what I planned has actually happened.

My pain has gone up and down much like a kid's see saw.  It's been a Level 4 and it's been a Level 9 it even hit Level 10.  Sometimes it's been at both ends of the scale in a 24 hour period. I can't take the flu shot because I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome when I was 14 but I've been blessed to not have had the flu for several years.  This year I got the flu.  For about 4 days my pain stayed between a Level 7 and Level 9.  I probably could have taken more medicine for the pain than I did.  Since I was also taking antihistamines in an effort to try and open up my sinus passage and I was home alone much of the time, I was afraid to take much more that my normal.  I would rather hurt and still be here to see my grandchildren grow up than to take a chance on mixing the wrong medicines or amount of medicines.

About a month after that I got the stomach flu that was going around.  I woke up one morning and felt pretty good and I was loving that.  A couple of hours later I took Mr. Supportive to work so that I could have the car to run errands.  The errands didn't happen.  I suddenly felt nauseous and got my window down just in time to deposit breakfast down the side of the car in the parking lot where he works. Right outside the big double glass doors.  The doors that his co-workers were standing at watching the morning unfold and drinking coffee. Of course the guys came running out to see if they could help.  Sigh... Talk about wrong time, wrong place.

I headed home and made it about 3 blocks when I knew I was going to be sick again.  Since I knew the Goodwill store had a clean bathroom, that's where I went.  I grabbed a washcloth off the rack on the way to the back of the store.  Thankfully I was able to make it into the bathroom and wet the washcloth before I got sick again.  After what seemed like forever, I was able to pay for my wet washcloth (or at least I hope I did), get to the car and make it home before I was sick again.  Once again my pain was up between a Level 7 and a Level 9.  After I had been home for a little while, it hit a Level 10 that I hadn't experienced since 2009. Between the pain and throwing up more than I did in both my pregnancies combined I barely moved for almost a week.  I was in a lot of pain when I had the flu but it was nothing like this.  This was the pain that I had before I was prescribed any kind of pain medication but this time I was having it taking 60 mg of Kadian every 12 hours and 30mg of morphine every 3 or 4 hours.


But as the saying goes, this too shall pass and it did.  It took me a while to build my strength back up but I did and started getting back on track.  For a while...

This is where this part of the story ends and a new chapter begins.

 

It's Been a Rough New Year

My fibro pain has finally gone back to it's normal level four or five. It's been a great blessing to not be in as much pain as I had been having.

Things were going pretty well until Tuesday this week.  That when my pain jumped up to a level ten. But it wasn't fibro pain.  It was some of the most severe chest and stomach pain I've ever had.  I tried to ignore it.  I tried to find a position where I got some relief. Nothing worked so I ended up calling Mr. Supportive to take me to the ER.

That visit was a nightmare.  You know how those of us with chronic pain get labeled as drug seekers?  I feel sure that I was labeled as soon as I got there.  You know how sometimes when the pain is so bad that you can't breathe normally and you breathe through your mouth very quickly?  The nurse told me I was having an anxiety attack and if I would stop breathing so fast the dizziness would go away.

Read about my "wonderful" adventures in the ER here.

I'm going to be away from the computer for a few days playing grandma.  Here's hoping I report back good things pain wise!

Hello January 5!  It's January 5 and I've not posted since January 1 so I've already broken one of my life changes for 2012.  It's been a rough couple of weeks since Christmas.  You can read about it over at Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady.  My plan is to post different information on each of my blogs but for now, I'll be linking them up to Rambling Thoughts.

My pain level has been pretty steady at Level 5 or 6. I've been grateful for that but really wish it was a Level 4 or 5. You may remember that last month,  my pain management specialist, Mr. Supportive and I made the decision to cut my pain meds back a little. (You'll find that post here.)I've definitely have clearer thought and Mr. Supportive said last night that I've snapped at him only once.  I'm glad that cutting back the meds has accomplished what we set out to do. The down side is that my pain has been in the Level 5 or 6 range for the last three weeks.  I'm really hoping it's because of this nasty weather we've been having and that when the temperature stays constant and it quits raining it will come back down to a Level 4 at least some of the time.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Don't forget to go and read about my latest trials and tribulations over at Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady.

"See" you tomorrow!

A New Year, A New Start

It's 2012!  Hard to believe isn't it.  My fibro pain (Level 6 or 7) messed up our New Years eve plans.  As if the pain and fatigue wasn't enough, I had a horrible cold and a 101.4 fever.

Our plans had been to have "Christmas" with our godchildren and their parents.  I hated having to cancel but I knew I was in no shape to go anywhere and have a good time.  I was also concerned about passing on what ever I had in case it wasn't just a cold.  Our oldest goddaughter is recovering from surgery and because of that she doesn't have many days that she can miss school  Her sister turns 2 next week and their mom is expecting our third godchild in June.  With all that they have going on, I didn't want to add to it.

I'm still in at a Level 5 or 6 pain wise but I am much better than I was this time yesterday.  I am very grateful for that improvement.  




I'm going to "cheat" a little on this post and send you over to my blog, Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady for my first post of 2012.  I'm not making resolutions this year.  I'm making life changes.  I'd love to hear what your plans for the New Year are!


Here's one that I recommend we all take on:

Photo credit:  Fibro TV

Flare time

I had two phone calls I had to make.  That's done and I'm headed back to bed.  Pain is rising every minute that I'm up.

Checking In

Woody in his napping spot at the end of our bed

Just a quick check in to say hello!  I'm determine to get back in the habit of writing every day.  This has been a hard week between the appointments Mr. Supportive and I had Monday, his mom having one Tuesday and I had another one today.  I'm not accustom to being away from home that much and it's increased my pain level a good bit.  Right now I'm dealing with Level 6 pain but I'm determined to get the Christmas decoration boxes put away tonight.  Our dog is a lab/basset mix and he's a good 36" long.  When you combine his length, how small the living room is and how many plastic bins are laying around, he's having to back out of places he get's himself into.  There's just not enough room for him to turn around.

Isn't that a cute face. 

We've officially changed internal medicine doctors and I think it's going to be a good fit for both of us.  Every one in the office is fibro friendly which is an awesome thing.  

Right now I'm hurting so bad that I'm headed to my chair to prop my feet up.  Mr. Supportive is in charge of supper so I'm waiting to see what comes out of the kitchen.  He's a much better cook than I am and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  LOL

I've got some new things going on that I'll start sharing with you tomorrow.  Be sure to check back here soon.

Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady: Fibromyalgia Drug Market Will Experience Minimal Growth?????

Rambling Thoughts of a Southern Lady: Fibromyalgia Drug Market Will Experience Minimal Growth?????

It's Raining...Again

Today was a busy day.  Mr. Supportive had an appointment to set up surgery to have his cataract removed.  Since he was having his eyes dilated, I was the designated driver.  Considering how much I hate driving in Memphis traffic and it being dark and raining cats and dogs, I’m not sure how good of an idea that was.  We did make it to the next doctor’s appointment in one piece but he assured me that he really could drive when we left.  I guess I scared him pretty bad.  LOL

My degenerated cervical disks keep me from being able to turn my head to look behind me in traffic.  I can tell if anyone is right beside me but have to depend on my side mirrors to check if it’s ok to move over.  That’s the main reason I don’t drive any more than I have to and I stay off I-240 as much as I can.  Add the big time construction going on, the rain and my neck and it was touch and go.  Did I mention that I need new glasses too???

After his appointment we had a few minutes at home and then we were off to see my pain management doctor.  After the three of us talked, Dr. D is changing some of my medicine around.  I have to tell you that it scares me to mess with what is working but I’m beginning to feeling like an airhead.  I think we’ve finally gotten ahead of the pain and now it’s time to back off some.  At least that’s what I’m hoping.

Surprisingly with the cold rainy weather,  my pain has gone back down into the “normal” level four or five. I’m almost afraid to say that out loud for fear of it going back up.  It probably will go back up some this time tomorrow night.  I take my mother-in-law to the eye doctor tomorrow.  She suffers from Macular Degeneration so about every 6 weeks she gets a shot in her eye in an effort to keep what little vision she has.  The first time I walked into the room and she had the q-tip with lidocane on it poking out of her eye, I just about freaked out.  Gave me the willies!  She said that it really doesn’t hurt at all.  I still can’t watch the doctor give her the shot.

Her mobility is an issue these days but she’s almost 85.  The sad thing is that up until about 6 months ago, she got around better than I do.  We call ourselves the cripple leading the blind.  The distance between the door to the building and the doctor’s office is not good for either of us.  I got a great deal on a light weight transfer chair ($25 at Goodwill!) that we use in cases like this.  Unfortunately, it only holds one person at a time.  Out of respect for her age, I’ll be pushing her.  That means that my lower back will go crazy by the time our day is over.  It’s not from pushing her, it’s from the walk.  It gives me fits even walking around at home more than usual.

I grabbed that wheelchair the day I saw it because walking any distance does me in.  There are so many places (like doctor’s offices) that even with handicap parking, I may as well be running a marathon instead of walking in an office building.  My lower back hurts horribly and my legs turn to mush.  I suspect the lower back pain is from my degenerated lumbar disks and the mushy legs are from the Fibro and Neuropathy with a little Lymphedema thrown in.

So that’s how my Monday went and the plans for Tuesday.  How’s your day going?

Nasal pillows

Full face mask

Ayr doesn't pay me to recommend their product, I just like it!

Adrianne, I asked Mr. Supportive what problems he remembered when he first got his CPAP.  He said the hardest thing for him was waking up with his nose sore.  We are using the nasal pillows instead of the full face mask.  I had the full face mask for several years and it was hard for me to get use to it because I’m claustrophobic.  Since I was so exhausted from not sleeping well, I would crash almost as soon as I put it on.  That took care of the claustrophobia and I figured out a way to lie on my stomach with my head off the side of the bed.  Now I sleep on my sides and it’s fine.  I recommend using Ayr Saline Nasal Gel to keep your nasal passages from drying up.  That seems to relieve the soreness from the pillows.  I hope that helps a little.  If anyone else has any ideas to help Adrianne, please post them.

That’s it for tonight.  I’ll try and update tomorrow night.