Painful weather, like it or not

October 5, 2017

It’s October in New England, but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t look at a calendar.

Every summer I count down until the third weekend in September. That’s when I know the weather will have finally shifted for good, and I’ll be feeling less pain, less fatigue, and less nausea. It’s truly a magical time.

But not this year.

This year we had cooler weather in August, and I was grateful for that, but I also knew it wouldn’t last. September was up and down. But surely October would be my time, right? Not so much.

When you have chronic illness, nothing is simple, and the unpredictable symptoms, flares, and other issues can make life hard to plan. Still, we do our best. For me, that means making more plans in the fall and winter, when I know I will feel better.

That’s why, even though a “simple” weekend away with my best girlfriends is incredibly hard, I felt I could do it if it was in the fall. My friends are understanding, and were perfectly happy to avoid planning anything in September, just in case. They get it. Every time we’ve had cooler, less humid weather, I get text messages and emails from friends saying, “This is your kind of weather! I hope you’re feeling up to enjoy it.” And I love that they understand.

So we planned for “safe” October. Who could have known? This isn’t our typical cool, crisp, wonderful New England autumn.

Thankfully the temperatures are cool enough, though way too warm for this time of year (upper 70s?!? Are you fucking kidding me?!?) My problem is the dew point. It’s supposed to get close to 70 this weekend! Even healthy people find that uncomfortable and for me, it will be near torture. But what can I do? The house we rented doesn’t have air conditioning – after all, none of us thought we’d need it. Higher on our list was finding a house with a working fire place. Last year we did this trip later in October and it snowed. We had a lovely time sitting by a roaring fire, and wanted to repeat that experience. If only.

I am in pain already, and it’s only beginning. Well yes, I’m always in pain, but this is worse, and I know it’s from the weather. My toes are swollen and painful. My knee is swollen and so painful that it’s hard to walk. My neck hurts. Everything is just wrong.

But I won’t stay home. I have been looking forward to this trip for a year. It is my one chance to do this. I will NOT give it up!

I will bring the medications that I can. I will be careful how I eat. And I will block out a lot of extra recovery time when I return. Still, I know this is going to be really rough. I will be in pain, nauseated, and fatigued. Thankfully, I will be surrounding by wonderful women, women I have known most of my life, the only non-relatives who knew me before any of my symptoms began, women who have always been supportive. And maybe most importantly, women who have always made me laugh, even at the worst of times.

So wish me luck. Because I want to be able to enjoy this weekend as much as possible. If only Mother Nature would cooperate.

7 Comments | Expectations, Fatigue, Frustration, Limitations, Pain, Rants, Relationships: Family & Friends & Dating & Sex, Support, Symptoms, Unpredictable | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

How a weekend away is a 2 week ordeal

October 2, 2017

I’m going away this weekend and I’m super excited!

I used to travel all the time. 2 months at home felt like FOREVER. I could pack an overnight back without even thinking about it. I got on a plane multiple times each year and did some weeks and weekends within driving distance. A weekend away in the Berkshires, less than a 3 hour drive away, would be no big deal.

But that was then.

And this is now.

Now I have to plan. I am being super careful about washing my hands and avoiding germs. I can’t get sick now!

I need to bring food with me. I will be with friends and some food will be safe for me to eat, but I need to bring other food. So I went to the grocery store today (Monday) and carefully planned out what I will make and which days I will make it. I also promised to bake cookies to bring, and I can’t do big cooking on the same day I bake, because I won’t have enough energy for that, but I can’t make anything too far in advance because I want it all to be fresh.

The day before the trip I will do some packing, but most of my stuff (my ASV (which is like a CPAP), my medications, toiletries, and more) can’t be packed until the day of. I need to ration my energy that day. Thankfully, I only have to drive half an hour to a friends’ house that day and then she will do the rest of the driving from there. Still, even being a passenger will be tiring and painful.

I am already thinking about how to handle my food and medications on the day of the trip. I always feel like shit the first night I travel. So I am being careful to bring everything I need to take it all at the right times: I will take something to help with the pain and the nausea when we start to drive, something else for the pain when we arrive, then something else for the nausea a few hours after that. Between medical cannabis and pepto bismol, the right foods and lots of rest, I am hoping really hard that it won’t be too miserable. Thankfully, I will be with friends who will understand if I can’t hang out with them that night.

I have scheduled my medical appointments around this trip. I was able to get a physical therapy appointment just a couple days after I return, so hopefully that will help with the pain from the long car ride and sleeping in a less-than-great bed.

My calendar is empty for the first 2 days after my return. That will give me time to rest and recover. I will get a lot of sleep, watch tv and movies, crochet, and read. If I feel up to it I will do more, and if not, that’s ok too. During my recovery time, I still need to eat, and I might not be up to preparing food, so I am making sure to cook and freeze food now that I can eat when I return.

I want to travel more. I really, desperately do. But then I remember what a trip like this is like. I can manage it ok, because it is only two days. I will leave at noon on Friday and be home by 5pm on Sunday at the latest. And I won’t be flying. I know it would be much harder if I was flying, for many reasons. It would be more painful. I might feel anxious at being “trapped” on a plan. Not to mention, I wouldn’t be able to bring any cannabis with me, and I can’t imagine how I would manage my symptoms without it.

At the same time, a friend and I are trying to schedule another weekend that I can visit her. The drive is less than 2 hours, but I would be driving myself. She would provide food I could eat during the entire visit, but aside from that, everything else would be the same. Resting for days in advance, blocking out days afterwards for rest, figuring out medications and other things to help alleviate my symptoms while knowing that I will almost definitely feel like shit the night that I arrive.

Sometimes it doesn’t seem worth it. But I know it will be in the end. Even thought it won’t be easy. It won’t be like it was before. But hopefully it will still be fun.

2 Comments | Decisions, Expectations, Fatigue, Frustration, Isolation, Limitations, Pain, Rants, Relationships: Family & Friends & Dating & Sex, Symptoms | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

The real reason I wasn’t feeling well

September 26, 2017

I have noticed an interesting pattern recently. It goes like this:

  • One evening: Hmm, I don’t feel well. Must be the usual chronic illness stuff.
  • The next day: Wow, I feel really bad. This CI stuff is acting weird.
  • That night: Oh boy, this is not only bad, but also not quite the same as the usual CI stuff.
  • The next day: I’ll just push through. It’s probably a mini flare. Be quiet voice-in-the-back-of-my-head! I don’t want to hear this is something else.
  • That night: Oh crap, I think I’m sick.
  • The next day: Oh boy, I’m DEFINITELY sick!

And that’s what happened this weekend. It took two days of feeling guilty and trying to push through before I realized I was sick. Then I spent an entire day on the couch watching tv, not even trying to do anything “productive,” and I felt so much better afterwards!

It’s hard when you have a chronic illness and have “sick” symptoms on a regular basis. You have to keep living your life, and often, resting wouldn’t help anyway. But sometimes it’s actually a bug, and rest is just what you need. Then it’s important to give yourself that rest.

I’m not back to “normal” yet today, but I feel SO much better. Maybe one day I’ll listen to that voice in the back of my head and realize I’ve got a bug a lot sooner. I haven’t figured that part out yet, but hopefully one day I will.

And in the meantime, I hope you all can give yourselves time to rest and recover when you get a bug. It’s lousy when it happens, but at least, unlike chronic illness, it’s temporary!

Leave a Comment » | Expectations, Frustration, Symptoms, Unpredictable | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

Feeling blah

August 30, 2017

This has been an odd summer for me. The thing is, I’m not sure how much of that is because of my chronic illnesses, and how much might be coming from something else.

2016-09-26-15-34-58

For one thing, the weather has been unusually not-too-horrible. I can go outside! On top of that, I seem to be less sensitive to air pressure and humidity than I have been in the last 10 years or so. More ability to go outside! That doesn’t mean I can always go out, but on days that would have caused extreme pain or trouble breathing before, I’m actually doing ok.

On top of that, for the first time since I was 18, I live in an apartment with central air conditioning. This. Is. Awesome!

Because of all of that, I have less fatigue and less pain than in previous summers.

So why do I feel so blah? Why have I been a bit moody? Sure, I still have more pain and more fatigue than at other times of the year, but is that it? I keep thinking it is. I keep thinking that when summer is over, I’ll feel better.

It’s not like me to be so uninterested in certain things. I have been trying to do some part time work, but I’ve barely done anything for my fledgling business all summer. At first that seemed ok. I had worked too hard in the spring and was burned out. So I took a break. The problem is, I still have no desire to go back to it.

The thing that really worries me, though, is that I’m wondering if maybe I shouldn’t get a dog after all. You regular readers know that I’ve been trying to get a dog for more than 2 years, with one problem after another cropping up. And now I wonder if a dog is too much work and too much responsibility for me. And I love dogs, but are they worth it?

It occurred to me that these are symptoms of depression. But I’m not depressed. I’m still very happy. I’m very interested in other things. I have been excited to try some new crochet patterns. Last week I finally picked up a project that I had let go of for over a month, and now I’m excited to work on it again. I’m loving spending time with friends.

So why the hell am I doubting if I should get a dog? Why am I avoiding work?

I think it’s the summer effect. This summer isn’t as bad for me this year, it’s true. But I think it’s affecting my mood anyway. Otherwise, this just makes no sense.

In 3 more weeks I should know.

A lot of people don’t like working. That’s ok. But not wanting to get a dog? If that keeps up, I’ll know something is truly wrong.

6 Comments | Fatigue, Frustration, Rants, Symptoms, Unpredictable | Permalink
Posted by chronicrants

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