Hi
Just a quick check in. Although my weekend has been pretty painful, it's not all bad news. Been trying to push myself harder. It's way to easy to fall into a pattern of doing nothing because of pain and as a result we just become weaker and even less motivated to do anything. I have a bad habit of doing nothing or going on a rampage of trying to do to much. Than I pay dearly for my efforts. I find it so hard to keep a good balance of things. There's no worse feeling than feeling useless. I guess it's better to be in pain from doing something than in pain from doing nothing. I'm hoping the rest of the week goes more smoothly.Thanks for reading my post and I hope all of you have a great week.

Randy (stingray)

Ahhh, Monday morning. The weekend was busy as normal but full of blessings. Monday comes cold and rainy with a goal of getting schoolwork and some wedding planning done. I find myself doing anything but the 2 things I planned on. Going from typing schoolwork to facebook, then off to wash a few dishes, a load of laundry, some crocheting of prayer shawls. The pain is at a high peak, but I refuse to do nothing and give in to it. So here I am with my 2 dogs warming my feet and trying to stay productive during a flare up. I wonder if the old stand-by of tea and toast will help me focus? My mother and grandmothers' swore by tea and toast coated with jam to fix pretty much everything.

 

 

Saw the PT today. She did several range of movement things with me. She said I had funtional scoleosis and I looked like a S. She kept jokingly calling me "crooked lady".

She had me step up and down a little step to balance my stair climbing. I'm a little sore, but okay. I get to see her every Monday and Thursday.
I'm off the amrix and predisone thank goodness! They did me bad. :(

Been struggling with my depression lately, but other than that not much is new here. Pain is a little worse due to all the stress & depression issues -- that darn vicious cycle. Only good news is that most my vet school apps are due Oct 1st & I'm all done with them except for two (one more supplement, due Oct 25th, and Tufts application, due Nov 1st).

Saw the cutest puppies at work today -- 6 wk old golden retriever/siberian husky mix puppies. They were adorable. Made my day.

Skeye

It's in the low 70's in Houston right now. I LOVE when we get a break from the heat and humidity. Unfortunately, my pain worsens when the weather changes. It's like the Trigeminal Nerve can FEEL the barometric pressure dropping/rising. I have the worse fair ups in the winter. My pain levels can fluctuate up to an 8 during cold snaps! But boy I do love the relief from the heat.

oh and Golitho -- yeah for Ireland! Erin Go Bragh!

Just wanted to check in and say "hello and I am still alive", although it does not feel much like it! I hope you are all doing well and I miss everyone lots! I still have not had a complete flare! But I am hurting bad everywhere EXCEPT my hands! I have not gone back to the original rheumy because when he said that he could not "feel it", the only joints he even touched was my hands! I am going to ask my PCP for a referral to another rheumy, because, while I wait for my hands to hurt.....I am scared of what is happening in my back!! My back just gets worse and worse! Now the pain in my back is constant and never goes below about a 5 or 6. I also have a lot of pain in my knees, ankles, feet, neck and shoulders. I feel like my brain is just shutting down. All I do is sleep. Well I sleep 2 hours at a time because of the pain....but as soon as I get up, I am yawning and back in bed within an hour at the most! All night and all day!

Anyway...I will be okay.....and please just know that I care about you all very much and I think about you often! I just am not awake enough, or feeling well enough to do much posting lately! Sending healing thoughts out to all my special friends!! Take care everyone!

Hi All,

Sorry I didn't get around to posting on this thread until Tuesday....but you know how Mondays can be.lol

Anyway, my hubby, my daughter, and I went to the lake this weekend (we have our camper permanently set up there now) and had a very nice weekend.  I picked up some new comfy chair cushions for the outside chairs and we finally found a sleeping pattern in the camper that works pretty well.  Despite the large bed I normally share with my hubby, I have found that the pressure from his arm or from him turning during the night was causing me to go home in tears either Friday night or Saturday morning early.  I decided to have him make up the third bed for me and I slept on that.....amazing what a few accomodations will do, isn't it?  I kept my heating pad handy and the air vents directed at me so that I wouldn't get overheated.  The heating pad is a wonder for my back, but I get hot and then sick if I don't keep the air low enough.  It's the first time in many, many months that I have been able to stay for the whole weekend without crying.

Then only negative was a B-day party my daughter went to (I stayed, of course, because I didn't know the people   ) and it was a nightmare.  We only made it for two of the four hours and I HAD TO GO!  My pain jumped from a 4-6 to a 10+++ and I had to take two of my normal meds just to get it back down within levels I could handle    .  I generally undertake meds, rather than overtake them, but this was a very special circumstance.  There was NO and I mean absolutely NO seating with lumbar support   !  There were only a few seats inside where it was below 90 degrees and the people made me feel so uncomfortable.  When we left early, my daughter actually thanked me for leaving and then thanked me over and over for changing her school (she's in private now and these were the children from the public school she left).  I think it was the first time she saw the "real" difference between the manners, respect, and common courtesy that is mandatory at the Christian school she now attends and the behavior that she had been dealing with on a daily basis before the move.  It was a lesson well learned and worth the few hours of bad pain to appreciate what you have and the atmosphere you live in.

Overall I would say this weekend was a blessing for us all...a few rough patches, but good lessons learned, good family time, and a healthy respect for the others around us.  Now I can look forward to going back to the lake without worrying about having to leave in the middle of the night from pain.  This means a lot to me and to my family.