This is the third post in a row about illness. Blah. I just don't have much else going on inside my head right now.
We've been very busy around here. Grandma has been here to see the Aladdin, the school musical. Wild Man had the starring role! So, of course, it was a busy weekend with three performances of the musical. And Wild Man turned 18 yesterday, although we celebrated on Saturday afternoon with chocolate cake and friends and singing! We went to UWSP last night to hear their choir concert since Rosie Girl is in the Choral Union. It was amazing, of course.
I fought a migraine through the whole weekend. I skipped the Saturday night performance of Aladdin to get some extra rest. Overall, though, it wasn't too bad.
The fibromyalgia pain is what is doing me in right now. I'm getting out and walking on the days that the migraine isn't bad, but I can still only get about 1/2 a mile. My calves hurt with every step. It was only a few weeks ago that I could do 2 miles without any excessive pain.
The bright spot is that my antidepressants are working. As much as I hurt, my mood is staying pretty decent.
Other little tidbits of life: I knit on Fridays with another woman. She's in her 80's. She's been knitting since before my mother was born! But, her eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, so she has me cast-on stitches or pick up stitches or figure things out for her sometimes when I come over on Fridays. This week, she couldn't figure out the heel on some socks. I thought I had it sorted out, but when I was done, I only had 13 stitches where I should have had 32! Later in the afternoon when I was just sitting, I suddenly realized how to do the heel! I called my friend and told her to bring her knitting when I picked her up to take her to the play and I'd do them this weekend. I finished tonight with the correct number of stitches!!
This is certainly a well-constructed piece of writing! Talk about rambling! Well, I can vouch for the grammar at least.
Have a lovely night!
I'm soooooo tired. I spent four years in medical school, so I thought that I knew what tired was. I mean, I would go days on not nearly enough sleep doing admissions and working in clinic.
But, I didn't really learn the meaning of fatigue until I developed chronic migraine and fibromyalgia.
The fibro came first with the poor sleep and diffuse body aches. What's crazy is that I was diagnosed at a time when I had a gym membership and was exercising regularly. A medication to help me sleep gave me significant relief.
Unfortunately, the migraines started escalating soon afterward. Once the migraines became chronic and I started having daily headaches, the fatigue kicked back in with a vengeance. I didn't know a person could be so tired without being sleepy.
Right now the fatigue is particularly bad because I've had a busy week. I've been cranking up the distance and speed that I walk to 1-2 miles at about 20 minutes/mile. I also re-caulked the bathroom (a whole 'nuther story but suffice it to say that there's mold and we're getting a new bathroom soon!) along with doing lots of house cleaning. Parts of my body hurt that I forgot even existed!
Now it's time to rest. I have a migraine today, which makes it a resting day anyway, but I had already planned for today to be a rest day. My achy body (from all the working which has flared my fibro) is telling me it needs a break. I did walk to the library to stretch my legs, but it's only about 1/3 of a mile.
God made us to rest. In the creation story, God rested on the seventh day and then He gave the people of Israel a commandment that they were to rest of the seventh day of the week. Even when we're completely healthy, we need some down time. And that's OK.
For those of us with chronic illness, rest is a necessity. And I'm working very hard not to feel guilty about it. It's perfectly fine to give my body what it needs. Today, it's to sit down and write and look at knitting patterns and read. I can pray and meditate and let God speak to my soul. I can listen in ways that I can't when I'm spackling the bathroom wall. And I can just be quiet.
What do you do when you just need to rest? How do you hear God? Do you prefer silicon or acrylic caulk ('cause I'm such an expert now)?
