If I get those few things done

I didn't get some things done yesterday.  My spoons disappeared and I ended up taking a nana nap to ward off another fibromyalgia flare.

Waking up after a disturbed night's sleep, I realised that fibro has found me again. I have severe pain in my arms and neck as well as a newly diagnosed urinary tract infection. Hence the disturbed night's sleep.

In  spite  of  that,  I have a  few things I would like to do today.  I need to fold washing  which is easy as I can sit and do it. 

As I promised,  I will make some sultana muffins for Chris as I can reach it if I sit at our breakfast bar on the high stools. Same thing for dinner prep. Just a mixed grill for tonight.

Chris is  going to  change  my  bed and I  will wash  the  sheets  and anything  else in the hamper. With  my pain relief making me tired, that will be enough for today and if I get those few things done, I will be very happy.

Living on a wing and a prayer

Before I injured my knee, I bought a food processor and I promised to make Chris some sultana muffins. It arrived Friday and I just unpacked it this morning.

I can't stand on my leg for long, but I think I can manage to reach the processor if I sit on my high barstool which graces our breakfast bar.

Whilst hoping to make muffins for afternoon tea today, I am hoping to make a sweet beef curry in the slow cooker for dinner. It feels good to actually have enough spoons to cook. My fibromyalgia flare seems to have gone.

Later on after dinner, I am going to take a shower as my new shower chair has arrived as well. I should be able to manage if I can sit down. I will time it so that Chris can be nearby in case I run into difficulties.

It was bad enough with a meniscus tear in the left leg without another one in the right now, however life goes on and it is possible to run the house seated. You learn to adapt.

My cleaning lady came today and the house looks nice. I had it tidy before she came so that all she has to do is clean and not tidy everything just so she can start.

I am hoping my knee doesn't require the Tramadol today as it makes me so tired that I won't achieve my goals in the kitchen.

I am mindful of every step I need to take so if I am careful, I should get away with just Panadol or Tylenol.  One thing I can't get away with is a quick prayer as I am literally living on a wing and a prayer.

Wheelchair bound

So, the MRI results are in. I have a meniscus tear, fabella, torn posterior crucius ligament, bursitis and osteo arthritis behind the patella. It needs surgery as it does not repair itself.

I am to see an orthopaedic surgeon and meanwhile I must rest the knee and use pain killers. 

We have bought a shower chair and a wheelchair. I have had Chris push me on the seat of my walker, but it is a big strain on his heart and I worry about him. 

It is difficult to focus enough to write at the moment and I spend a lot of time on the couch aka the beach, or in bed with my electric blanket.

I am just able to stand enough to wash some dishes, cook a meal and stack the washer and dryer. Chris helps sometimes and has been my legs.

I am making use of the slow cooker a lot, cooking the meals as I am able to stand.

As with all new health issues, I am trying to come to terms with this "new normal" and the constant struggles with fibromyalgia are now "normal" and this new challenge is calling for all my ability to accept my new lot in chronic illness.

I am disheartened that both my knees have now given way (I have a torn meniscus in my other knee), and am trying to feel grateful that I could afford a wheelchair. Thank goodness for afterpay.

However romantic a picture I can find really doesn't cut it for me as I struggle to accept that I am now wheelchair bound.

Walking like Tin Man!

So my right knee has been hurting for six weeks since I drove for five hours a day when Chris wasn't feeling well enough to do it. I was hopeful that it would come better, but unfortunately it hasn't and it came to a crescendo two days ago.

Making a pivoting step to turn round and grab something out of my fridge, I felt a searing pain that nearly made me pass out and I thought I had torn the meniscus in the right knee as well as the left one injured three years ago.

With pain still from my jaw following a dental extraction that saw my jaw planed which then brought on a bad fibromyalgia flare, the pain in my knee saw me getting wheeled into my doctor's office 2 days. I cannot put any weight on it at all and it feels unstable.

Two days later and Xrays under arm, we returned to the doctor who told me my ACL ligament had snapped and sheared off some of the tibia with it. He rang an orthopaedic specialist for a look at the films and a second opinion.

Turns out the tibia is intact, but I have a bony stone behind the knee called a fabella. I am having a MRI tomorrow which will tell us more and indicate what treatment is available for the ligament damage as well as the fabella.

I am unable to put any weight on it and have been told to rest the leg. I have been given Tramadol to cope with the pain.

So I am looking at getting a shower chair and possibly hiring a wheelchair. We find that easier for Chris to use as I am concerned about him pushing me especially with his heart problems.

For the next few days at least, it's rest, pain relief and trying to remain positive as I walk like Tin man in the Wizard of Oz! 

Tomorrow may be better

 

So Friday night I developed a raging toothache. By Sunday I was so desperate for relief that I was seriously considering going to the ER at our local hospital.

I only had Panadol or Tylenol here and it wasn't helping at all. Waking up Monday morning, I rang the emergency department in our local dental hospital and they made an appointment for me that afternoon.

My tooth was cracked, exposing the nerve, so it had to be extracted. It was a difficult extraction and my jaw had to be planed down as it had jagged edges after the tooth was removed.

The dentist would not prescribe opiates for pain relief and told me to see my doctor. Fortunately for me, he did a phone consult and left a script for Tramadol for us to pick up. Chris got it dispensed for me and it was a life saver.

With my knees both paining me and a fibromyalgia flare brought on by the extraction, I felt like I was drowning in pain. So yesterday I spent most of the day in bed.

Today, I have a lot of dishes to wash and owing to how I feel, it will be the only job I make myself do.

I will make some Jewish Penicillin for dinner tonight and we will have a salad sandwich for lunch.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.