Beach Time and Other Happenings

I love, love, love walking on the beach.  I love the smell of the salt air. I love the brave birds/ducks that swim in the frigid water. Sunday my husband declared a day of rest and so we went to Jasper beach. It didn't matter that we had to wear our winter coats over our hooded sweatshirts.  We bought sandwiches and chips before we got there and sat and enjoyed our picnic lunch on the beach. We walked a bit and then walked back. We got to the car just as it started to rain. I was glad to have the opportunity to be near the ocean.

Monday I did inside work (made wheat bread and cookies)while my husband cut and split next years winter wood. He stacked it in the back of the garage. He only has a little bit more to cut up! I got a call from my friend who had bought my goats. The younger one had just delivered quads. I told her I'd be over but before I could leave, a huge gust of wind carried the For Sale sign away. I grabbed my coat and ran ti get it before it landed in the stream. When I came in I knew I was in trouble. The front part of my head hurt badly. I called to my husband and he came right in and helped me out. The pain had traveled from my head down my neck and into my shoulders and back. Biofreez, pain killer and flexeril did the trick. I didn't get to see the baby goats though.
Tuesday he went to orientation for his new/former job. He was a little apprehensive but managed it quite nicely. I got a second call from my friend so this time I went. She needed help getting the tiniest one to latch on.

I was able to make that happen and gave her a few tips on what she needed to do. As I drove home I thought about how much I missed my goat herd.

I welcomed my work weary husband home and we had a yummy spaghetti supper. Then off to bed early.
Today I either was talking on the phone or having company. I loved seeing all of my sister's pictures from her trip to the Outer Banks. I could tell she had a great time. I also am thrilled to see the purple finches have turn such a bright red. The means its mating season. Spring is here.

It Was Great While It Lasted

I had an almost two week run of less/no pain. I was just getting used to it when wham-o it hit again this afternoon. My right hand feels swollen and it hurts. My chest wall on both sides is giving me sharp pain. My right leg and both knees are acting up. My feet hurt and I am exhausted! Enough already. I thought you had moved on. I managed to get two loads of wash done and lunch on the table. I was so thankful for the freezer meals we put together so my lunch offering (chili)was all ready prepared. I slept some this afternoon but I've caved this evening and taken extra meds.
My husband enjoyed being outside most of the day. He got a lot of cleanup done and brought a lot of wood across to the side yard to be cut up and stacked. 
God is good. He has taken good care of us. We are excited about the next change.

Changes

Today my husband got a job. He starts on Tuesday. I know I will miss him. We are working on that. We have the house on the market and expect to sell it. When it sells he will retire!!!!! I am excited about the changes ahead.
It will mean changing doctors. I have high hopes of finding one who can understand and treat fibromyalgia. Right now what I am doing seems to be working.
This week has been a busy week that just flew by! I have never had time fly so fast. We have moved some furniture around and made the house look more open.  I love the new look.  

Sunshine!

Our realtor came today to take inside and outside pictures. It didn't look too good earlier this morning but by afternoon the sun came and it looked really bright. The other thing that happened was that the rains took away a lot of the snow in front of the house.  I know that there is a  person who will be the buyer for this property out there. It is time for patience and to keep on keeping on.
I am feeling tired every afternoon but I think it is because of my new med schedule.  I am running with it and taking the naps I feel coming on without complaint. If my body needs more rest that I think it deserves the med will help me overcome those thoughts!
Husband and I have been setting aside time to read, talk and pray each morning and that has helped tremendously. God's plans are bigger than ours and we seek to follow Him.
It has been good while he is between jobs to spend time together. When the house sells we would like to by a house outright and have him retire.  He has been a great help with the housekeeping tasks and hasn't complained at all.

Lots of Bare Ground

The huge piles of deep snow have all but disappeared this week. The warm weather is responsible for this. My husband is still mucking out the cellar, bucket by bucket.
I have been no help because although I have very minimal pain I am very tired. I have managed to get some wash done and some meals on the table but mostly I've been resting. The chest wall pain is the only thing that hangs on. I struggle with unstoppable coughing and very dry mouth.
I am trying to get out and clean up my flower garden but it is a slow process. I want it to look nice this year as it is the first thing you see driving by.
Husband's job search has been up and down. Two places want him but start times and actual "go to work time" have not been settled. So we hang in there, continuing to trust God for the outcome.

Work, Work, Work

I've had two days without pain! Yes! But I have also had two days of fatigue. Some of the meds I have added back have caused drowsiness. My husband has done nothing but work at cleaning out the yucky cellar. I did my part but now have stepped away to let him do what he needs to do. We did a big shopping on Sunday and I had several meals that needed to be put together and frozen...crock pot ready. I am excited about this because it should help when I am plum out of ideas and exhausted to boot. We got into it yesterday morning and I did a good part of it myself. Yes, we are still struggling with working together.  This morning went better because we talked about it and each did our part. Now we have a good potion of the cellar mucked out. And 12 crock pot meals in the freezer and two meals in the crock pot for our supper!
Today has been an awesome day with temps in the 60s...wow! The snow is quickly evaporating and browns and greens are appearing.
very little pain this afternoon, just exhaustion.

Back to the Drawing Board

My former doc had set me up with enough meds to take them PRN. I have been using a lot less than what the label said and frequently had my worse times at night time. Today when I set up the pill pack for the week I decided to up some of the meds to what the label said and try that for a week and see if the night time snafu would lessen.
I am a reluctant pill taker as you can see. However I need to manage this whole thing better. I have not be taking noon meds but started today. The first change was I took a nap and slept for 2 1/2 hours.  I expect that the tiredness side effect should let up over time. We'll see if there is any cumulative effect from the days meds into a better bedtime.

Spring is really coming.

The gold finch males have regain their spring yellow!

And the feral cat is showing himself again.

Crazy Making

I just got up. I slept well. 
Had a great morning yesterday and was able to work on cleaning the cellar (a wet rock wall foundation). There was debris left behind from both the electric fix and the plumbing fix as well as empty cans of foam and old, old wood from the days we had our furnace down there. What a mess. It needed cleaning and picking up in the event we had a showing. What a mess. 

I made lunch when we decided we'd done enough and settled in for a nap. However the wonderful morning deteriorated and by suppertime I was a different person...tired, hurting, mad, in a lot of pain. This up and down of fibro drives me crazy!!!!!! 

My husband had to do supper as I languished in my chair. He insisted I take some meds so I took flexeril and a pain pill. 
We got in bed to watch a couple of episodes and still I was in pain. The pain finally went away after another handful of pain med, anti anxiety med , advil and gabapentin.

Can you hear my frustration? I do not want to have to take so much medication. I don't, I don't!!!
I also don't want to lay about and do nothing!

Magic Bars

All gooey and delicious, these bars are cooking as I type! And they are easy-peasy.  My husband has a craving for them and so do I.  The bath and kitchen repair and repaint are done and we are having a slow day.
I saw the doctor on Tuesday and had a hard time because he didn't really know me and had all kinds of advise of what I should do and how I should stop taking my pain med because I might need it later and then what would I do. He thought that exercise and not laying down so much (his interpretation of what  I said) would change my ability to get restorative sleep and have more energy. The question I asked was about the severe fatigue I had putting down for three days.
Anyway yesterday, of course because I'm stubborn , I did exercise and take a short walk. I also did some cleaning, bending and stretching , going up and down stairs. I stopped each time I felt I could not longer breathe but otherwise kept going. By supper time my sternum hurt front to back and I took a med to help with the pain. By bedtime my whole body was whacked out. My feet were burning and sensitive to touch. Breathing hurt. My fingers had severe pain, as well as my wrists and arms. My left shoulder and upper arm hurt badly and any movement that jarred it caused more pain! I threw caution to the wind and took a double dose of opiate pain meds and an anti anxiety med.  Not much help. Then I took a double of flexeril. That is something I have never done. But, thankfully I finally fell asleep and slept through the night.
I've done a good job of managing the issues of this syndrome so I don't know why I didn't just let his advice go in one ear and out the other.
Today, I have done very little because I am dealing with after effects of meds and pain. However I feel joyous that I got through it and learned something as well.

April Snow

The body knew there was going to be a change in temperature. It has put me through the wringer the last two nights. And what do you know... first it rained and now it is snowing. I think we will probably miss spring and jump right into summer!
Dealt with severe chest wall pain last night that didn't give way after taking the appropriate meds. The pain went on and on. I finally got to sleep but it was certainly not restorative sleep. Today I am just dragging. I got up and then went back to be and stayed there until noon.
Huge fibro fog this afternoon. I am hoping this improves by tomorrow. I have had enough!

Robin Siting= Spring is Really here!

This morning my husband looked out the window and spotted a robin. I am excited. Robins arrive in the Spring and their food of choice is worms. Well, the snow needs to go for them to get the worms. Hello Robins, good by snow!

I want again to say this blog is about how I am dealing with Fibromyalgia and what happens to my body from day to day. I am not trying to whine or complain. If you are not interested in my journey then just find another blog to read. I am writing this mostly for my benefit.

That said, I had my hair done yesterday. I love how it turned out. I completely forgot how hypersensitive I was to chemicals. We had a wonderful Chinese meal and then headed to Jean and David's house. David had made some replacement parts for our trash drawer. As we sat and visited I be came overwhelmed with fatigue. I needed to go home.  Sensing my distress Paul took me home immediately where I crashed for the rest of the afternoon.

When I got up to go watch a couple of episodes and got in bed my whole body was in trouble. My legs and arms were burning. My feet and hands hurt. My jaw ached. I was beside myself. I had taken night meds and didn't feel enough relief. I took Flexeril but became so distraught I told my husband I didn't know what to do but was trying to wait it out so the Flexeril could work.
Finally it did and I fell asleep.

Today I am feeling better but dragging. It will be a slow, easy day.

Resting Day

My husband took me on a breakfast date yesterday. It was good to get out.
All I managed to do during the day was wash, dry, fold and put away one load of wash. My body was out of sorts and my functioning was low. He however worked steadily in the kitchen moving it ever closer to completion! I am so pleased. The project has left me feeling like I was getting bites from lots of tiny bugs all over my body. I know it's my body's hypersensitivity but I didn't care for the feeling.

Today we head in to Calais since he made a hair appointment for me. I'm a wee bit excited since I am going for a different style. I really want it to work out!