Accident - Minor

Accident - Minor

Like other people with fibromyalgia I am in pain all the time. I really try hard not to complain every day but I hurt till I could cry every day. I still get up and go to work. This is my dream job. (Well aside from an astronaut. 😛)

Some how I hurt my foot. I don't know how. I am very careful of my feet. I step out of my recliner into my shoes. I step out of the shower into my shoes. It is actually funny because I never wore shoes as a teenager or young adult.

Anyway my foot felt like razor blades were under it for days. Of course I decided it was getting gangrene because it hurt so bad. I would have to get my foot cut off and wouldn't be able to walk or drive at all. (It is my left foot not the one I drive with.)

My daughter took this picture. There are only two little red marks about the size of two gum balls.  It really hurt though. I finally had to take a sick day at work. I hardly ever take sick days.

The only thing I can figure is the fibromyalgia multiplied the pain from the two little raw spots. Then the stress of being in pain for so many years now made me anxious.

My daughter is helping me clean it and dress it. I can't really see it myself so this is a huge help.  I need to remember that even the slightest accident will cause me to feel pain beyond what is reasonable though. I knew that but I suppose I forgot.

Mylinda

Moving

Moving

We moved again. This is the second time in 5 years. Of course my fibromyalgia flares befor, during, and after moving. I needed a house bad the first time. It was really a terrible house though. I told the landlord to tear it down to the ground. He laughed but I tried to tell him.

There are less stairs at the new house. Even though there were only three steps in and two steps from the livingroom to the kitchen at the old house those steps gave me pain. So less steps at the new house is good.

It is just so hard to explain to other people who don't have fibromyalgia. I sleep in a recliner due to my sleep apnea. The recliner sits differently at this house which makes me hurt. The floors have different pitches that make me hurt. Even the toilet being in a different position makes me hurt.

The lymph nodes in my arms ard the size of 50 cent pieces... I am trying every trick I know to function in my family and work but this is a pretty bad flare. Unfortunately I think the long term answer will be time for my body to adjust.

Till next time,
Mylinda

Cardboard

Cardboard

It's funny the things you learn from having fibromyalgia.  As I have gotten sicker I have learned how to order things online. Since I can not just pick up and go shopping any more I had to come up with a strategy to get basic things that I need like toilet paper or ibuprofen or even shoes.

That was a learning curve for me. The funny part is that I have learned so much about cardboard. You wouldn't think there was much difference in cardboard. There is the solid kind like the back of a writing tablet or the covers on a notebook and then there was the cardboard from a box. Right?

Well yes and no. Cardboard from a box, corragated cardboard to be more exact, comes in different qualities for want of a better description. Let me explain, I started to have a need for something cheap and disposable for light cushioning for different activities in my life. I needed a little accomodation or modification to make things comfortable for me to continue to work and be independent. 

I could buy thin foam but it wasn't cheap. I could but thick foam but it was too thick and not cheap.  Both types of foam were prone to fall apart quickly and easily with a lot of use. Folded cloth could be cheap depending on where I sourced it but it wasn't very strong and not really disposable.  I have been thinking and trying different solutions for about a year.

In conversation with a friend she suggested cardboard. It was strong enough not to fall apart and diposable.  I certainly was throwing out boxes several times a month. It was free and free is for me. As well as I liked the whole reusing and recycling idea. I only have so much stuff to store in a box so this was a good second use for a box.

After a period of time using parts of boxes for cushioning I realized that a few of boxes were so much sturdier than the others.  I don't know if there is really a rating for corrugated boxes or not but I can now tell by touching the box if it is better quality. I then squirrel away that cardboard in the supply I use for cushioning.

I am sure I probably would have never noticed the difference except for complications from fibromyalgia though.

Till next time.
Mylinda

Strange Pains

Strange Pains

The strange pains associated with fibromyalgia always surprise me. My doctor told me the pain in my feet was from neuropathy from the fibromyalgia. Then the itchy feelings in the joints in my hands was from the fibromyalgia.  

The breast pain was from the same thing.  Now the pain in my chest is from issues in the cartlidge from the fibromyalgia. Oh yes and the pain in my eyes that has grown over the years is from...you guessed it, fibromyalgia.  Apparently if it hurts it is fibromyalgia.

I check with other people who have fibromyalgia and they have these pains too. 

Till next time, 

Mylinda

My Yule Time Prayer

My Yule Time Prayer

Holidays, work, family - all of these seem to be working in concert to keep me stressed and in pain. It is multiplied when all three areas of my life are out of sync. 

Then if course hurting makes me more stressed. I know holidays are supposed to be for family but I just wish for peace during this holiday. 

Best Neighbor Sign

Best Neighbor Sign

In the town I work in they have these yard signs that say 'best neighbor'.  I am always amused when I see them.  I suppose you get the award for how clean and neat your yard and house is.  The yards are always lovely. They are neatly trimmed with little to no tree branches or materials. The bushes are well cut and clean. Each blade of grass is the proper length.

The house bricks are clean or in the rare chance it is a wooden or vinyl house it doesn't have mildew and is well painted. There isn't old cars or chairs or anything visible to break up the landscape either.

In the past I guess 3 or 4 years since I started using a wheelchair my ideas about things have changed.  At time I roll up and down sidewalks in my powerchair. I like going places by myself if I can. Like I said my view has changed. I am surprised at the houses and businesses that have lovely well taken care of houses/buildings with horrible sidewalks. I realize sidewalks may not technically be part of their yard but really?

The grass growing or that they just blew onto the sidewalk is theirs. The branches form their bushes or trees are theirs too. I don't know how many times I have been scratched up by branches. The bushes around the house are well sculpted though.

I think whoever is giving out these awards should add a category about the sidewalks. That is who you can really tell which household has good neighbors or not.

While they are at it a question about whether the household's vehicle is parked over the side walk would be informative too.  Many homes have vehicles parked in the driveway but over the sidewalk blocking wheelchairs and pedestrians. Maybe you have to go in the street to get by or turn around and go back far enough to get to the street. 

How neighborly is that?  Is there a law about that?

Till next time.

Mylinda

Long Time

Wow, it has been a long time since I needed to write about Fibromyalgia and myself. It has been since the middle of 2017.  It isn't that I don't have to deal with it everyday though. 

I guess I have concentrated more on social media than here. I still read blogs but I am not sure most other people do. Some of my favorite blogs aren't active or are on some kind of recycle program that shows old posts.

Anyway I feel the need to write again. I think most of my observations are about both of my wheelchairs and life using them. We will see where it goes though.

I suspect like most of my writing what I write takes on a life and direction of its own.  I don't know if I have any readers any more.  So if you are reading this drop me a comment about what you are doing now.

Till next time.
Mylinda