Discombobulated Thoughts - Semi-Wellness Edition

• Today is not such a good day for me pain-wise. The pain really started two nights ago and has just sort of gotten worse and worse. I’ve tried treating it with Tylenol and Aleve per the GP’s recommendation, but that doesn’t seem to be helping. This morning has been so bad that it feels like my left calf is hard as a rock and every step is agony. It’s just bizare.
• My eye is twitching again. It’s really very annoying.
• I finally have an appointment to see a Rheumatologist. It’s scheduled for next Tuesday. Of course, that’s just the initial consult. Who knows what kind of testing he’ll put me through or how long that’ll take.
• I see the surgeon on Wednesday and having asked around I seem to have been refered to “the best”. Now I’m just waiting to see if he’ll do the surgery and if so, if he’ll do it with the tiny microscopic holes or the big nasty scar. I’m a little annoyed at El’s comment when she was comparing her surgery to mine — “At least you’ll have your health when you start”…I really wanted to say that if I had my health, I wouldn’t need the surgery, but I kept my mouth shut -er - fingers quiet.
• I’m meeting with a possible house-cleaner on Sunday morning.  I’ve said that this fatigue thing is just too much and I can’t keep up with work and house keeping and do other stuff; heck, half the time, I barely can do just work.  So, I’ve been looking for someone and I found this person on Craigslist.  She’s coming over on Sunday morning to look around and give me references and discuss what needs to be done.

  Basically, I want someone in once a week to vacuum, sweep, mop, clean the bathrooms, empty the trash, and wipe down the kitchen counters and every other week dust.  I’ll do the laundry, dishes, litterboxes, and picking up.

tags: house keeper, fibromyalgia, gallbladder surgery, wellness

4 comments

1. on July 28, 2006 at 1:49 pm

   KC said:

   I applaud the decision to get a housecleaner. I bet that if you can cut your tasks back to a manageable compass, you’ll suddenly find that you have more energy to do the things that you HAVE left for yourself to do. And then you might find the sense of being overwhelmed as well as the physical pain lessened.

   As for the gallbladder surgery–well, surgery is never gonna be fun, and will always be nerve wracking. But maybe if you can think of it as part of a whole life re-alignment strategy–relieve yourself of pain, get the housework manageable, have fun with the dog and hobbies–you’ll be able to pat yourself on the back for being a good self-manager and developing a structured plan for feeling generally better.

   Just my two cents (which is probably exactly what this is worth). But I found in the past when I took such an approach to pain plus heavy workloads, I suddenly felt much better about how things were going. And it’s a nice add-on strategy to the work with the personal organizer.

   Anyway, best of luck with all of it!!

2. on July 31, 2006 at 10:55 pm

   Lauren said:

   Hello, I just found a couple of your entries while surfing and I’m so sorry to read that you think you might have Fibromyalgia. I have it, and it’s horrible, so in a way, I understand what you are going through. I also just had gallbladder surgery three months ago, so I wish you the best of luck with that as well! It made me feel a lot better and I hope it does for you too.

   My biggest suggestion is to really get on your doctor about FMS. It’s so good that you are pursuing it like you are. That is so important. You really have to be your own doctor. I’ve always been intolerant to medication, so a lot of what I do to treat my symptoms is more natural stuff. There are a lot of foods that are anti-inflammatories (Tart Cherry Juice is the best, but all red fruits are great) and something that made me feel better over-all was to stop drinking milk and drink soy and rice substitutes instead. Another important thing for me is exercise. It’s a pain to do, but just 15 minutes a day of walking or yoga makes a world of difference in pain level the next day.

   The most important thing is sleep. I have Chronic Fatigue too, so I understand how frustrating it is. Something that works surprisingly well is Benedryl. I take one or two before bedtime and it works great. Plus, it’s pretty harmless stuff. Another option is getting an Alpha-Stim machine. It might be worth asking your doctor about it. It’s a small machine that sends a safe, low level electrical current through ear clips. It greatly helped my sleep and my pain level. Insurance usually covers it.

   I went on longer than I planned, and I hope you don’t mind. I just saw that you were struggling and I wanted to try and help.

   I truly hope you find some answers soon, going through all this is just terrible. And I hope you can find some relief.

3. on August 22, 2006 at 10:51 am

   Cheryl said:

   Lauren,
   I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia by my family physician just recently. I have suffered with chronic pain for some time from my neck and subsequent cervical disk fusions. When I told my husband about the diagnosis, he said “what is that? It sounds made up!”.

   My family doctor also had referred me to a pain specialist, (before the fibromyalgia diagnosis). I told my pain specialist about the diagnosis and he scoffed. He said fibromyalgia was a gender-biased diagnosis that is used to satisfy women who really just need to lose weight and exercise. He said most people would have the same tenderness in the areas discribed in the fibromyalgia diagnosis. I told him I had also seen a sleep speicalist who said I was experiencing some mild sleep apnea, and also quite a bit of alpha intrusion. The sleep doctor also said that this could be the reason I was having trouble losing weight, and started me on a cpap machine, and two weeks later I had lost weight. Of course the pain doctor said this too was poppycock! Purely coincidence, I just need to excerise to muscle failure.

   Well, that was all my husband needed, he thinks that doctor is right, and that I should listen to him. I tried to explain that his opinions are anitquated and outdated, but he just won’t listen. I am afraid it may lead to the breakup of our marriage.

   Any help anyone could offer would be much appreicated. I was much interested in the Alpha-stim machine you spoke of, Lauren.

   Thanks to all who answer in advance.

4. on August 22, 2006 at 12:27 pm

   n. mallory said:

   Cheryl,

   Second and third opinions are helpful but the doctors need to be educated and understanding of the condition.

   You also definitely need support in a big way. I found a lot of support online through the Fibromyalgia-CFS mailing list:

   

   Click to join Fibromyalgia-CFS

   Good luck!

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