Wednesday 10 April 2024
A permanent thing
Friday 15 March 2024
Sitting down brings no comfort
Over the years of chronic illness, I have noticed that what used to be a reward for spending spoons and being proactive was in having a comfortable place to sit.
Gradually the places that once gave me a comfortable sitting have become objects of pain. My armchair, couch or sofa, typist chair, dining chair and car seats have all become places of torture and there's no reward or rest found in them.
Like wise, my bed also yields no comfort to my fibro effected muscles or my spinal pain.. it can't be the furniture's fault.
I think the fault lies in my allodynia which is pain on the lightest of touch. It is often a part of fibromyalgia and/or diabetes neuropathy. There is no cure.
I cannot take many tablets that are commonly prescribed for fibromyalgia, such as Lyrica so I have had to find something that helps with the pain.
With both peripheral neuropathy from diabetes and fibromyalgia, and with constant knee pain, I find the only time I can completely relax is when I am lying on my couch and Chris is rubbing my swollen feet. The swelling is from heart failure.
The massage seems to distract the nerve path that interprets pain and replaces it with a pleasurable sensation, allowing me to often drift off to sleep.
I know it's sad that a foot rub is the only help for me at this stage of my life, but it is what it is. And it is good for me as sitting down brings no comfort.
Monday 8 January 2024
She is not afraid of the snow
Saturday 27 May 2023
Taking the pressure down
Whatever the worry of checking and medicating sugars and blood pressure is has been and gone..it is what it is.
As the sun goes down and the moon rises, there is the hope of a restful sleep and whatever chores were meant to be done are either completed or waiting for tomorrow.
We can rest and wind down, enjoying whatever simple pleasures we have left after the raviges of pain and illness. Whatever helps us unwind and take the pressure down is welcome and wanted..
The drapes are closed, the fire lit, the kettle has recently boiled and a tea tray awaits our attention..a final sip of our favourite beverage accompanied by quiet reflection and conversation.
One knows that the morning will bring its own anxieties that life struggling with chronic illness brings, but for the moment the hope of a restful night's sleep resides in our bosom... hope is what keeps us going.
As we lay at last in our bed awaiting sleep, we can reflect on those things that light the wick in our candle of hope. Those things that have given us comfort and peace throughout the preceding day..they are worth remembering...
Being thankful for the good things in our day helps us get a better sleep and is a way of taking the pressure down...
Sunday 23 April 2023
A spoon is a spoon!
So my polymyalgia rheumatica has kicked in again, and coupled with a fibromyalgia flare, the pain is just excruciating.
I have decided the pain warrants some Prednisolone so I took 25mg of it these last two mornings. It makes me feel a bit antsy but I can now bend my neck, lift my arms to brush my hair, and the pain around my temples and headache has gone, along with the TMJ.
It is risky taking Prenisolone, but I had to weigh up the pros and cons and decided that I simply couldnt bear the pain any longer.
A happy consequence of it is the fake energy has made me channel it into housekeeping and my house hasnt looked better!
Today I have run the Roombas, washed the clothes and cleaned my kitchen. I am going to do sausages in the slow cooker for dinner tonight.
The steroids are elevating my blood sugars as I am diabetic. It's making me feel drowsy. I can see a nana nap in my future if the Pred will allow me to sleep.
I really dont care where I get my energy from these days: fake energy from steroids is good. After all, a spoon is a spoon!
Sunday 28 August 2022
For me, it's spoons!
It's Sunday morning here. I have brought in the online groceries and checked them off and put them away.
I will soon be taking Chris's bloods and doing breakfast. Breakfast will be eggs and bacon and a cup of tea. Lunch will be ham and salad sandwiches. For dinner, I am doing a vegetable intensive beef stew. Fresh fruit for desert.
There's a hamper of clean clothes to fold and then I will be up to date with washing. Later I plan to make some coleslaw, if spoons permit.
That's about it for today, except for cooking dinner. I don't want to put myself into another fibromyalgia flare or I won't have spoons to help my daughter tomorrow. As I always say: most jugglers juggle balls, for me it's spoons!
Monday 15 August 2022
I am too tired to shout!
Today is Monday morning. I have to do some washing and restack the dishwasher. I have run Sadie the Roomba and am about to do bloods, meds and breakfast.
Later on at 11 a man is coming to do some flatpacks of furniture for us. I am hopeless at this and Chris can't do it anymore. It's a coffee table and TV lowline unit. It's $40 an hour but we had to factor that in when we bought them. It is what it is!
At 2.30 we have to pick Dianne up and take her to a doctor's appointment. Then I have to go to the chemist and get her meds made up.
It's supposed to rain for the next 10 days and the rain has been consistently heavy and constant. I think we are going to need an ark soon. It is making my fibromyalgia worse, and I am pushing myself to get Di to doctors and physio.
I will neverthless be busy with doctors and physio for the rest of the week and possibly next two weeks or more. I am glad Di's knee has been done though. It's all over bar the shouting! With no spoons at all, I am too tired to shout!
Saturday 18 June 2022
It's a pain in the neck
Friday 22 April 2022
Chipping away at the stone
Friday 1 April 2022
And a good sleep
Tuesday 29 March 2022
Lovely stuff
Friday 25 March 2022
The only nice thing about it
Thursday 17 March 2022
We both are spoilt girls
Saturday 12 March 2022
This too will pass
Saturday 26 February 2022
Sex isn't everything.
Friday 21 January 2022
My eternal quest
Tuesday 30 November 2021
But then again, maybe not!
Fibromyalgia has taken a back seat and I am enjoying having some spoons. It's been so long that it is a surreal feeling.
I have been washing our bedding after the winter months and will be packing away our doonas. We both don't sleep very well and so we prefer minkie blankets. They are light and easy to throw off if we get too warm, yet warm enough to preclude the need for the heavier doonas for a drop in temperature.
It's such a joy to open the windows throughout the house too. We are fresh air freaks. There's nothing like the smell of the early morning.
I am going to make up my favourite cookie recipe today. And I think I will bake some sultana muffins for Chris. He loves them.
In stark contrast to flare days, I have already had my shower and gotten dressed. I need to take our bloods and give Chris his insulin injection. I think I will serve him some soldiers for breakfast this morning.
I have pork chops thawing for dinner tonight. I may do an egg salad to go with them. It's salad weather here at the moment.
As I must pace myself so as not to bring on another flare, I think in between tasks I will go out in the back garden and sit on the garden swing. My friends the birds are so tame that they actually come down to eat almost from my hand. It's so relaxing!
I have a lot of things I want to do today, but nothing compares to sitting in the swing in the sun watching the birds. So maybe I will get all those things done, but then again, maybe not!
Saturday 2 October 2021
Sometimes you have to be your own doctor!
Saturday 4 September 2021
Sacrificial home keeping's sorted
Today I managed to finish washing the dishes- I have been doing them in short bursts as I can't stand long.
I managed to take a shower this morning and I had to rest a bit after it. But it was good! The water relieved some of my muscle pain from my fibromyalgia.
I rang my friendly housecleaner and offered her some extra money if she would regularly change both our beds each fortnight. Even though due to illness, we have separate rooms now, the beds still need changing fortnightly. I can no longer do it. She's agreed to do that, so that's a load off my mind.
We had a doctor's appointment this afternoon, but Chris didn't feel well enough to drive and I can't, so we changed to a phone consult. I got some scripts for pain relief and discussed Chris' diabetes woes. I will be giving him 34 units twice a day from today instead of the 32. Plus there's a new injection for once a week we must start tomorrow.
I will be sitting outside for a bit today as the weather is supposed to be nice. It will seem better now that the sacrificial home keeping has been sorted!