A couple of years after diagnosis, I’ve found many ways to deal with MS. I’ve accepted that I have challenges I never thought I’d have and I’ve found ways to work around them or get help when I need it. I’ve worked hard to deal with my situation and be emotionally okay with it. But my state of mind is not where the emotional turmoil of my disease ends
.
My Dad is owed by a little dog. My aunt got the dog because she wanted a tiny lap dog, but this dog fell ears over paws for my dad. I feel my aunt’s pain there, the cat I brought home many years ago, swearing I’d leave home if he didn’t let me keep her, fell in love with him at first sight and they bonded into mutual adoration quickly too. Animals really do love my dad. Pop also seems to have a thing for females who end up challenged. You see, the little dog, Zara, has recently become blind.
I talked to him on the phone and he told me about her retinas becoming detached. The vet asked if she played rough with their larger dog or if she might have wandered off, but the likelihood is it’s because she is of a new breed that has a number of genetic issues. Like his daughter’s MS, Zara did nothing to cause her challenge and there is nothing she could have done to prevent it. Pop says that she seems to be adjusting; learning new ways to find her way and get to the food, find him for cuddles and get where she needs to be when he takes her out for a walk. Hmm, similar to my using the cane and walkers to get around the house, strategically placed chairs in the kitchen and a wheelchair and paratransit for appointments. We both adapted to our situations.
While Pop told me what was going on with the little dog and how she was handing it, he made a comment that really opened my eyes and gave me some understanding. He said she seemed to be getting adjusted but it was just really hard to watch her stumble and bump into things because there was nothing he could do to help her. I asked him if that was why he had a pained look when he visited and I was using the walker to answer the door when my medicine was delivered. He said “yeah.” It’s hard to watch someone you care about suffer when you can’t do anything. He’d love to wave a magic wand and make me MS free and give little Zara her sight back, but he feels helpless.
Zara is getting adjusted, the fact that she is dealing with the new blindness says she’s learning and accepting it. She has no choice and instinct stepped in. That’s like me. I’m constantly learning and dealing with the limitations MS gives me. But although I have my frustrating moments, and trust me, I have my occasional burst into uncontrolled tears moments, I am not suffering, I am adapting; It’s what I have to do to survive. The people who care about me are the ones who are suffering. They suffer because they remember when I was able to walk, dance, and clean the house. They cannot fathom what it’s like to not be able to do those things. And I don’t want them to understand because I care about them and wouldn’t want them to live with my limitations. That’s also why I understand their feelings; because I’d feel the same way if it was any of them and not me.
My own husband tells me he doesn’t think he could cope if he had my condition. But he could, if he had to. When you have a challenge, you learn how to accommodate yourself; you adjust the things you do so that you can still accomplish the tasks you really need to. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but you understand exactly what your limitations are and just how far you can push yourself. Your loved ones can’t possibly know what you’re going through and it’s even more frustrating to them than it is to you because they can’t help you.
I’ve been much more careful in the past week since having my “hmmm” moment when talking with my dad. The toughest thing I’ve had to learn with MS is how to release a little control and let people help me, but it’s made my life much easier to accept and even ask for help. As with any aspect of life, communication is so important to understanding. Whether I ask or it’s offered, when someone helps me I try to remember to include why I’m grateful. For example when someone holds a door open I say, “thank you that keeps me from skinning my knuckles.” I add just one line that lets them know they’re not just being polite, but they’re making an actual difference. We do things to manage for ourselves to feel less helpless, but there are things we can also do to let people, relatives, friends or strangers who actually do want to help, know that what they do is an important part of helping us cope. If we work together to make it easier, none of us are helpless.
Showing posts with label adapting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adapting. Show all posts
Monday, May 6, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Still Not Cured
First off if you follow this blog and are still here, Hello! Thanks for coming back! I’m still here, still have MS. Oh come on, if I’d found a cure I’d blog about it. If I’d found a cure I bet a lot of people would be blogging about it. But no, no cure. I’ve just been kinda lazy about posting.
There have been challenges so far this year. On New Year’s Eve I was sick, I’d caught a cold and was feeling gravely throat and tired, a nasty cold. David brought me home Chinese and I got half way through the won ton soup and started feeling achy, like a fever achy. So I sat down on the couch and fell asleep.
David wasn’t feeling too well either, come to find out later a number of people we’d been with the weekend before got sick, and I vaguely remember him saying happy new year and asking if I wanted to come upstairs or just sleep on the couch. I opted for staying put. I awoke at just after 3AM, still achy and slightly chilled and when I tried to get up, I couldn’t. I tried a few different ways grabbing the sofa, the walker… My husband came down after hearing me crying and whimpering and tried to help, short of bending down and picking me up, I wasn’t going to be able to move. He called 911.
The first couple days of 2013 lack the clarity my memories usually have, especially ones that recent. After my first ever ambulance ride, I was invited to stay with the staff at the hospital for a few days. It was the flu! The flu amplified every MS symptom I have, which is basically that I went from barely able to move or function to not being able to move of function at all for a couple of days. No, I hadn’t gotten a flu shot, I never get sick, I only get an actual pesky cold every few years, why would I get a flu shot?
Accepting and living with a disease takes pretty much constant adjustments and you don't get used to every new challenge at once. I was diagnosed in 2011, but the symptoms have been there since 1996. The girl who “never gets sick” has actually BEEN sick for 17 years! This year, and every year from now on, I’m getting the flu shot!
The hospital stay that started on January 1 took care of my out-of-pocket limit with insurance so, while I had almost finished my payments for my MRI in 2012, now with the hospital stay added It’s going to take until October…2014. The upside of that is that for the rest of THIS year, the insurance company picks up the full bill so I’ll ask both my PCP and my neurologist to make sure they order anything and everything they might want done next year by December!
I’m doing okay now, except that the reality of living in a 1950s era two story plus basement house is starting to take its toll. We did get a shower chair that I sit on outside the tub and pull my legs over and get out the same way. That has taken some of the shower anxiety away. There are a few other things I need to do as soon as I can. I need elevated toilet seats and grab bars in the bathrooms now and between the pain and pinched nerves that are almost permanent in my neck, arms and shoulders from climbing and the jeans that are wearing out quicker than I can replace them from sliding down on my butt, I really need to figure out a way to get a stair climber. I’d say the upper body and rug burn pain is almost worse than the back and leg trouble from the MS! I really want to work on finding a way to remove all the steps from my world whatever way I can. It’s not just for comfort, but safety too.
With the out-of-pocket done for the year, I’m going to be getting a power chair! The only thing I’ll have to pay for is the cup holder. My dream was that I’d use the power chair and our paratransit service for my husband and me to go to Mud Hens games, then I’d want the cup holder, right? It would also hold a bottle of water at the farmer’s market or when I’m dropped off an hour before my doctor’s appointment and with a power chair I was going to have the mobility to go to vocational rehab and get a job! So, I’d want coffee at work too.
Except that the power chair won’t be leaving the house any time soon. We don’t have room to install a ramp. I can still use the chair in the house and it has leg lifts so I can keep the swelling down in my ankles that I get from not enough weight-bearing exercise. We can still use the manual chair for baseball and doctor’s appointments and that cup holder can motor coffee from the kitchen to the dining room without me spilling it now. The carpet will appreciate that.
I’m not totally giving up on the power chair, but it’s going to take some time to come up with the solution. I’m open to any suggestions that don‘t include “you need a ranch.” We’ve heard that from both sides of the family. No one who’s told us that has ever said it with their checkbook open though, ya know? But any smaller-than-a-new-house affordable ideas, even crazy ones, are welcome. In my world crazy has often been the mother of brilliant!
Okay, for now I’ll sign off. Later this week I’ll post about friends, family and caregivers, especially caregivers, and what those of us that have the disabilities need to know to understand what they’re dealing with so we can help them cope too
There have been challenges so far this year. On New Year’s Eve I was sick, I’d caught a cold and was feeling gravely throat and tired, a nasty cold. David brought me home Chinese and I got half way through the won ton soup and started feeling achy, like a fever achy. So I sat down on the couch and fell asleep.
David wasn’t feeling too well either, come to find out later a number of people we’d been with the weekend before got sick, and I vaguely remember him saying happy new year and asking if I wanted to come upstairs or just sleep on the couch. I opted for staying put. I awoke at just after 3AM, still achy and slightly chilled and when I tried to get up, I couldn’t. I tried a few different ways grabbing the sofa, the walker… My husband came down after hearing me crying and whimpering and tried to help, short of bending down and picking me up, I wasn’t going to be able to move. He called 911.
The first couple days of 2013 lack the clarity my memories usually have, especially ones that recent. After my first ever ambulance ride, I was invited to stay with the staff at the hospital for a few days. It was the flu! The flu amplified every MS symptom I have, which is basically that I went from barely able to move or function to not being able to move of function at all for a couple of days. No, I hadn’t gotten a flu shot, I never get sick, I only get an actual pesky cold every few years, why would I get a flu shot?
Accepting and living with a disease takes pretty much constant adjustments and you don't get used to every new challenge at once. I was diagnosed in 2011, but the symptoms have been there since 1996. The girl who “never gets sick” has actually BEEN sick for 17 years! This year, and every year from now on, I’m getting the flu shot!
The hospital stay that started on January 1 took care of my out-of-pocket limit with insurance so, while I had almost finished my payments for my MRI in 2012, now with the hospital stay added It’s going to take until October…2014. The upside of that is that for the rest of THIS year, the insurance company picks up the full bill so I’ll ask both my PCP and my neurologist to make sure they order anything and everything they might want done next year by December!
I’m doing okay now, except that the reality of living in a 1950s era two story plus basement house is starting to take its toll. We did get a shower chair that I sit on outside the tub and pull my legs over and get out the same way. That has taken some of the shower anxiety away. There are a few other things I need to do as soon as I can. I need elevated toilet seats and grab bars in the bathrooms now and between the pain and pinched nerves that are almost permanent in my neck, arms and shoulders from climbing and the jeans that are wearing out quicker than I can replace them from sliding down on my butt, I really need to figure out a way to get a stair climber. I’d say the upper body and rug burn pain is almost worse than the back and leg trouble from the MS! I really want to work on finding a way to remove all the steps from my world whatever way I can. It’s not just for comfort, but safety too.
With the out-of-pocket done for the year, I’m going to be getting a power chair! The only thing I’ll have to pay for is the cup holder. My dream was that I’d use the power chair and our paratransit service for my husband and me to go to Mud Hens games, then I’d want the cup holder, right? It would also hold a bottle of water at the farmer’s market or when I’m dropped off an hour before my doctor’s appointment and with a power chair I was going to have the mobility to go to vocational rehab and get a job! So, I’d want coffee at work too.
Except that the power chair won’t be leaving the house any time soon. We don’t have room to install a ramp. I can still use the chair in the house and it has leg lifts so I can keep the swelling down in my ankles that I get from not enough weight-bearing exercise. We can still use the manual chair for baseball and doctor’s appointments and that cup holder can motor coffee from the kitchen to the dining room without me spilling it now. The carpet will appreciate that.
I’m not totally giving up on the power chair, but it’s going to take some time to come up with the solution. I’m open to any suggestions that don‘t include “you need a ranch.” We’ve heard that from both sides of the family. No one who’s told us that has ever said it with their checkbook open though, ya know? But any smaller-than-a-new-house affordable ideas, even crazy ones, are welcome. In my world crazy has often been the mother of brilliant!
Okay, for now I’ll sign off. Later this week I’ll post about friends, family and caregivers, especially caregivers, and what those of us that have the disabilities need to know to understand what they’re dealing with so we can help them cope too
Monday, November 19, 2012
A Type-A Mind With A Type MS Body
I find that my writing here is sporadic because either it’s sunny or it’s raining. The last few months have been rainy ones in my mind. I am by my nature an optimist, which really helps in living with my unwelcome guest for life but being an optimist also means I have my limits with negativity before I walk away. I can’t walk away from MS. Okay, truth is I can’t walk away from anything, I roll away. That last line was a joke; I’m not that far in the muck.
Since the beginning of August I’ve been frustrated with things I’d planned to have done this year that I could see weren’t going to be anywhere near “goal met.” By the end of August I was supposed to have the cleaning and organizing done in the house. I could see in the beginning of August that I had barely scratched anything. I had to accept that I can’t do the lifting, the moving, even the bending and sorting make me tired and I need a break after a while. I can’t be the “Type A” person I once was; I won’t ever be her again, not physically.
The thing is I AM still her mentally. I just haven’t caught up with the physical limitations in my expectations of myself. I realize that I have to sit in the kitchen to cook or do dishes and mentally I fight with myself because “I have a chair in the kitchen, isn’t that enough?" Well, no, it’s not enough. Stretching my arms to move things on the counter makes them sore and reaching up and into the sink makes my back tired. I will get a taller chair for the kitchen, that will help my arms not get as sore, but I’m finally realizing that won’t make it easy, just easier. I’ll accomplish things slower than I used to, some things a lot slower, some things not without help. Do you know how hard it is for someone who is mentally still type-A to ask for help? I’m not talking delegating a task that’s part of a project; I mean ask for help because it’s something simple that I can’t do. I have absolutely no problem accepting help when it’s offered, but asking for help? That's still a big change for me.
So now, a year after what I thought was the worst of dealing with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ended, the months of progression without the drugs that have fixed my two symptoms that agonized me the most; fatigue and brain fog, I have to take some time to reassess how I'm coping and what’s next. I know that I desperately want a power chair and a van with hand controls. I can’t drive a regular vehicle anymore and my arms just can’t even dream of getting me to a bus stop to use public transportation. I wouldn’t have the ability to do anything one I got somewhere anyway, when my hands/arms get tired I can’t even make the wheels of my chair move. I’d need the van because there is no way a power chair can get into our house; the point is getting me out of the house anyway. The biggest reason I want the power chair/van is so I can find a job. I so desperately want to work again, contribute to the household and pay my own way, have things I want again.
This isn’t all doom and gloom! Researching my goals has helped me keep my sanity. I actually have a meeting next week to be okayed for the public transportation program for the disabled who can’t board regular buses. A ride is twice the cost of a regular bus, but they come to your door and drop you off at the location you’re going to. I’m still working on the logistics of getting the wheelchair in and out of the house. I’ll see next week how much the service entails. This service would enable me to get to my doctor’s appointments without having to work around my husband’s work schedule. It will also enable me to go to the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation so I can get myself ready to work again! A job is a way to save up for the copay on the power chair and credit to get a loan and make payments on a van. Then I start to get some of my freedom back. And I accept that that freedom won’t mean I can go out and play a round of mini golf, but I will be able to go to Starbucks on my own and go in to have a have a latte.
I'm really getting more information and tryng to be more of a self-actvist, so I think I'll be posting more now.
Since the beginning of August I’ve been frustrated with things I’d planned to have done this year that I could see weren’t going to be anywhere near “goal met.” By the end of August I was supposed to have the cleaning and organizing done in the house. I could see in the beginning of August that I had barely scratched anything. I had to accept that I can’t do the lifting, the moving, even the bending and sorting make me tired and I need a break after a while. I can’t be the “Type A” person I once was; I won’t ever be her again, not physically.
The thing is I AM still her mentally. I just haven’t caught up with the physical limitations in my expectations of myself. I realize that I have to sit in the kitchen to cook or do dishes and mentally I fight with myself because “I have a chair in the kitchen, isn’t that enough?" Well, no, it’s not enough. Stretching my arms to move things on the counter makes them sore and reaching up and into the sink makes my back tired. I will get a taller chair for the kitchen, that will help my arms not get as sore, but I’m finally realizing that won’t make it easy, just easier. I’ll accomplish things slower than I used to, some things a lot slower, some things not without help. Do you know how hard it is for someone who is mentally still type-A to ask for help? I’m not talking delegating a task that’s part of a project; I mean ask for help because it’s something simple that I can’t do. I have absolutely no problem accepting help when it’s offered, but asking for help? That's still a big change for me.
So now, a year after what I thought was the worst of dealing with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ended, the months of progression without the drugs that have fixed my two symptoms that agonized me the most; fatigue and brain fog, I have to take some time to reassess how I'm coping and what’s next. I know that I desperately want a power chair and a van with hand controls. I can’t drive a regular vehicle anymore and my arms just can’t even dream of getting me to a bus stop to use public transportation. I wouldn’t have the ability to do anything one I got somewhere anyway, when my hands/arms get tired I can’t even make the wheels of my chair move. I’d need the van because there is no way a power chair can get into our house; the point is getting me out of the house anyway. The biggest reason I want the power chair/van is so I can find a job. I so desperately want to work again, contribute to the household and pay my own way, have things I want again.
This isn’t all doom and gloom! Researching my goals has helped me keep my sanity. I actually have a meeting next week to be okayed for the public transportation program for the disabled who can’t board regular buses. A ride is twice the cost of a regular bus, but they come to your door and drop you off at the location you’re going to. I’m still working on the logistics of getting the wheelchair in and out of the house. I’ll see next week how much the service entails. This service would enable me to get to my doctor’s appointments without having to work around my husband’s work schedule. It will also enable me to go to the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation so I can get myself ready to work again! A job is a way to save up for the copay on the power chair and credit to get a loan and make payments on a van. Then I start to get some of my freedom back. And I accept that that freedom won’t mean I can go out and play a round of mini golf, but I will be able to go to Starbucks on my own and go in to have a have a latte.
I'm really getting more information and tryng to be more of a self-actvist, so I think I'll be posting more now.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Streeeeetch
Last night I tried a new sleep position, or maybe sleep prep. I got in bed and straightened my body and my legs started to feel like thy were going into full spasm mode. I pulled them up into almost a fetal position, difficult for me because I need to use my hands to encourage my right leg, especially when I’m lying down. Then I arched my back backwards and slowly moved my legs straight. No spasms. In fact, it felt good!
I know from when I use the walker that every now and then I have to stop and straighten up, arch my back a little to stretch it. It actually gives me a few more steps that I have the power in my right leg to fight the foot drop. The messed up disks in my back actually do like stretching. My favorite of my therapy exercises are the ones that stretch my back backwards. It makes sense that stretching that way would feel good for sleeping. In fact, back arched and legs straight is how I fell asleep, faster and with less position changing than usual for me. I woke up this morning with a lot less pain than most mornings and it seemed like a touch more stability.
I’m not ready to run a marathon or even go down the stairs on my feet, but it was nice to wake up feeling a little stronger. I know MS is different for everyone; custom diseases make us feel so special, don’t they? But I do want to encourage everyone who is living with symptoms to never give up trying new things to make the symptoms a little more manageable. MS isn’t going away anytime soon, so embrace the disease, it’s yours, and make it easier to live with, one little coping idea at a time.
I know from when I use the walker that every now and then I have to stop and straighten up, arch my back a little to stretch it. It actually gives me a few more steps that I have the power in my right leg to fight the foot drop. The messed up disks in my back actually do like stretching. My favorite of my therapy exercises are the ones that stretch my back backwards. It makes sense that stretching that way would feel good for sleeping. In fact, back arched and legs straight is how I fell asleep, faster and with less position changing than usual for me. I woke up this morning with a lot less pain than most mornings and it seemed like a touch more stability.
I’m not ready to run a marathon or even go down the stairs on my feet, but it was nice to wake up feeling a little stronger. I know MS is different for everyone; custom diseases make us feel so special, don’t they? But I do want to encourage everyone who is living with symptoms to never give up trying new things to make the symptoms a little more manageable. MS isn’t going away anytime soon, so embrace the disease, it’s yours, and make it easier to live with, one little coping idea at a time.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Crisis Mode Kicks In
It is NEVER funny when someone falls! The last time I wrote something about falling in a forum, people actually replied that they thought the story was funny. How is something where someone can get really hurt ever funny? I just don’t get that.
One fear that always in the back of my mind is what happens if I slip in the shower. Years ago my mom did that when she was visiting Grandma and my dad had to go pick her up, bringing someone to drive her car home because she’d dislocated her shoulder. The thought of being naked and wet and having to have emergency people get me out of the tub and take me to the hospital is mortifying. Yesterday I got to find out what I’d do.
The most dangerous parts of flying an airplane are taking off and landing. Basically the same is true for showering if you can’t really walk at all without assistance; getting in and out of the shower are the most dangerous times.
Yesterday I was feeling full of energy and although my right leg has been especially weak at times for a few days, I have a shower chair, so I’m not standing in the shower, I took a late afternoon shower/hair color break. The hair color was my ultimate undoing. In think the extra 15 minutes of sitting on the shower chair made it stiffer when I got up after finishing the shower.
I followed my careful procedure for getting out of the tub, using the wall-mounted soap dish for balance and the wall for support, using one hand to move the shower chair to the outside of the tub so I could move to the back wall to grab the cemented-in bases of the towel bars while I climb out, good leg first pulling the bad leg over when I’m on solid dry ground. Only yesterday, when I stood up and carefully moved the chair to the outside of the tub, I felt my right leg starting to buckle. I grabbed the soap dish and tried to tense up my leg muscles to keep me from falling. I almost regained balance and rose up too, but then I started slowly folding to the ground again. When I was close enough to not get hurt, I let go. Of course that’s the detail my brain recalled as I slumped down in slow motion. It probably happened faster.
There I was; not hurt, but wet and naked sitting in the tub. I tried to get my feet flat so I could move a little; sit up straighter and decide what I needed to do. Since the bathtub was still wet too, my feet slipped on the wet surface and I realized the first thing I needed to do was dry the tub and me.
Good tips time! When I shower, it’s usually after my husband leaves for work, so I’m home alone. Part of shower prep for me is to make sure I have towels on the towel bar so I can reach them after I sit back down on the shower chair I move to next to the bathtub, my cane next to the towels on the bar so I can grab it if I need it and my phone on the counter in case of emergency. It’s good to be prepared for the things you never want to happen.
I managed after a couple of minutes to regroup, to stretch enough to grab my cane and use the cane to pull down the towels. Two towels in the tub dried me off, except my hair, and the bottom of the tub except what was under me. I had to do some moving and resting in between moving to get that taken care of. Once the side of the tub was dry enough to safely do so, I used the handle end of the cane to drag the phone down and over to me. I said it was a late afternoon shower and I wasn’t hurt, just too week to stand up. so instead of a 911 call, I called my husband at work. He was due to be off work in an hour and I just wanted to let him know that I may very well still be sitting in the tub when he gets home.
Using the towels and taking frequent breaks in between little bits of movement, I managed to get myself up on my feet and out of the tub – 40 minutes after I fell. I texted my husband to let him know I was texting from the bedroom where I wrapped up in a blanket with three pillows supporting my back and read for another half hour before I got dressed and went back downstairs.
As a result of yesterday I realize that I really need real live grab bars in the shower that I can grab with both hands and use instead of the wet tiled wall to support myself. Also, perhaps an extension of the chair or a new chair that can extend outside of the tub too so I don’t have to step over. Maybe if I’m coloring my hair, I should get up and stretch my legs a little while the color is setting instead of remaining sitting in the tub is a good idea too.
But I learned that my “crisis mode” brain still kicks in. Boy the temptation to break into hysterical defeated tears was there at first, but I pushed it away to work on a solution, like I have all my life. So, take that, MS! Even with the bad legs, I’m still me and I’d still last for a while in the event of a zombie apocalypse. I have sound survival instincts…and a grave fear of being rescued wet and naked. I have a few bruises that have shown up today, but I’m okay; and my hair color looks great!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
It Hurts Means It Takes Longer
Last September, before I started Gilenya, I’d developed a couple of new symptoms. The first one I experienced was the weirdest one. My tongue went numb. Imagine feeling like you have a coffee burn on your whole tongue and it feels that way all the time, in my case for a month. That’s one of the things that I’m happy to report stated gradually going away by the afternoon of my first dose of Gilenya and hasn’t bothered me at all since early December.
The other new symptom in September has calmed down, but it hasn’t gone away. When I sleep on my left side, I will get numbness in my left arm, but not total numbness. I get muscle spasms and awful cramping pain in my left hand. When I say awful pain, it’s wake me up whimpering and I can’t even put weight on the hand to balance myself to try to sit up. I do manage to sit up and the pain instantly starts to subside, but a dull pain and tingling remain for a while. For a few weeks last fall that was an every night occurrence. Thankfully, now it’s only a problem when I sleep on the left side and I’ve retrained myself to sleep on the right, which is not the normal comfortable side.
I’m bringing it up today because I’ve awakened in pain from it the last two mornings at about an hour shy of the minimum sleep I usually need. Obviously, I’m typing, so my left hand is better now, but there’s a twinge in my left shoulder. I think that could definitely be what set off the night pain in my left hand again. Well, that and yesterday morning when the pain woke me I was on my left side. Old habits die hard there.
I’ve been working on a major reorganization on the house. I want to do everything I can to make our 1950s house a kinder, gentler, more accessible home. That means I’ve been moving things around in boxes scooted on the floor, lots of reaching and I’ve even learned how to sweep and mop while sitting in a chair. That's more bending and reaching. It all increases what I’m asking my upper body to do. That includes my left shoulder and arm, ultimately the hand! I think the spasms in my hand coming back are a sign to slow down!
I started what I call the “White Tornado Project” knowing I have limits. The project is to make it easier to live in my own home within those limits, but it also tests my limits so I know what they are. I’ll take it a little easier today. And I deal with small delays in the project. If I accept that I need to slow down a little and realize what I can accomplish, I can still have everything I want.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
New Day, New Keyboard
That’s how my day started, switching out the external keyboard I use at home with my laptop.
I usually drink a big mug of turmeric tea about every other day. Turmeric has wonderful anti-inflammatory qualities and it’s a homeopathic treatment for MS symptoms. I make the tea with 2 cups of near boiling water, ½ tablespoon of turmeric, a packet of Real Lemon and 2 packets of Splenda. It’s an acquired taste, but it does grow on you. I actually like the combination of bitter, sweet and citrus. Last night I discovered that I’m out of Real Lemon and grabbed a packet from the Real Lime box. I think I like the lime better! Anyway, I pour the hot water on top of the dry ingredients and let it steep.
My husband brought my tea in from the kitchen. It’s big cup and I can’t carry it in myself without spilling it. He had the tray I usually put on the kitchen chair to push it over to the dining room table. Cool thing is the time it took him to get a break from his game was just enough to steep it perfectly! If it’s not steeped enough the turmeric doesn’t blend in and it’s gritty. I don’t really know how much it actually does for my symptoms, but it relaxes me and that does help any pain fade. Maybe that’s where the notion that it quelled MS symptoms came from. The official word from my Neurologist is that there aren’t any homeopathic cures that have shown any significant improvements in symptoms. I firmly believe that emotional and psychological factors play an important role in ANY healing and anything that helps your brain work on healing is a good addition to medications and physical therapy. And also, I like it. I first tried the tea last spring and the flavor makes me feel like spring.
Anyway, the keyboard. Last night my husband got home a little later than usual and as dinner was ending, I was feeling tired. I’d managed to mop a good bit of the floor in the room I’m putting a new bookshelf in so I can place the shelf after I assemble it. I mop sitting in a chair. It looks silly, but the floor is clean and I did it on my own without falling! And there was no immediate pain or even fatigue. But I was tired and a little clumsy earlier than usual last night. The floor looks great and it was totally worth it!
My hands were weak and slippery-dry from the floor cleaner. I sat in front of the keyboard holding the last few swallows of my tea, when the cup slipped from my hands. I caught it, but not before it sloshed a few drops of tea on the table, a little under the laptop, a little on the extended keyboard! Everything seemed like it was working fine after I finished drying up, but this morning, no space bar! Fortunately the laptop is working fine and I had a backup keyboard.
So, try the tea! It’s got a complex but soothing flavor. Just don’t hover it over your keyboard!
Do you have any homeopathic things you do to accompany your medical treatments for MS? Please share!
I usually drink a big mug of turmeric tea about every other day. Turmeric has wonderful anti-inflammatory qualities and it’s a homeopathic treatment for MS symptoms. I make the tea with 2 cups of near boiling water, ½ tablespoon of turmeric, a packet of Real Lemon and 2 packets of Splenda. It’s an acquired taste, but it does grow on you. I actually like the combination of bitter, sweet and citrus. Last night I discovered that I’m out of Real Lemon and grabbed a packet from the Real Lime box. I think I like the lime better! Anyway, I pour the hot water on top of the dry ingredients and let it steep.
My husband brought my tea in from the kitchen. It’s big cup and I can’t carry it in myself without spilling it. He had the tray I usually put on the kitchen chair to push it over to the dining room table. Cool thing is the time it took him to get a break from his game was just enough to steep it perfectly! If it’s not steeped enough the turmeric doesn’t blend in and it’s gritty. I don’t really know how much it actually does for my symptoms, but it relaxes me and that does help any pain fade. Maybe that’s where the notion that it quelled MS symptoms came from. The official word from my Neurologist is that there aren’t any homeopathic cures that have shown any significant improvements in symptoms. I firmly believe that emotional and psychological factors play an important role in ANY healing and anything that helps your brain work on healing is a good addition to medications and physical therapy. And also, I like it. I first tried the tea last spring and the flavor makes me feel like spring.
Anyway, the keyboard. Last night my husband got home a little later than usual and as dinner was ending, I was feeling tired. I’d managed to mop a good bit of the floor in the room I’m putting a new bookshelf in so I can place the shelf after I assemble it. I mop sitting in a chair. It looks silly, but the floor is clean and I did it on my own without falling! And there was no immediate pain or even fatigue. But I was tired and a little clumsy earlier than usual last night. The floor looks great and it was totally worth it!
My hands were weak and slippery-dry from the floor cleaner. I sat in front of the keyboard holding the last few swallows of my tea, when the cup slipped from my hands. I caught it, but not before it sloshed a few drops of tea on the table, a little under the laptop, a little on the extended keyboard! Everything seemed like it was working fine after I finished drying up, but this morning, no space bar! Fortunately the laptop is working fine and I had a backup keyboard.
So, try the tea! It’s got a complex but soothing flavor. Just don’t hover it over your keyboard!
Do you have any homeopathic things you do to accompany your medical treatments for MS? Please share!
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