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This will show our fight with Fibromyalgia, so others can learn that it's real. |
This blog will chronicle my battle with Fibromyalgia, sometimes comparing it to the battle my wife, Kenzie  has with the same illness. Many don't believe it's an actual illness, though its existence is recognized more and more in the medical community. I'm hoping that by shedding some light on what it can do to a person we can make others aware that it is indeed real, and that it can hit anyone of any age at any time. It's not deadly, by any means, but it can drastically change your life. It can be a real and aggravating pain in more ways than one (pun intended). MANY more ways.
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| Yep, you read it right. Last Thursday, my stepson's girlfriend moved back to Memphis (Derek will follow in a few months). Helping them get everything packed and loaded in the rented truck wore Marilyn out. She called me a little before I would have called her (at 4:15, to say I was heading home from work) and she said she was going to crash for a while. She was exhausted. She woke up about 7:05 PM. At that time I was up the street at our Towship's Admin building for a zoning meeting, supporting a new small bsiness owner who had applied for a variance to help him expand his business. From the tone of the meeting, and the board's own staff findings, he should get the variance.  . I hope so.Kenzie was up when I got home about 8:15, but I was pretty worn out by then. Not much got done around here that night.  Friday night was also shot, but this time from MY side. I crashed in the bed as soon as I got home from work, sleeping till about 7 or 7:30. Sheesh. Saturday morning wasn't much better. I worked from 7:30 to 10:30 AM, came home, made a quick trip to the store and the bank, came home and crashed again, from about 2:30 to 5:30. Not how I planned on spending my weekend. Thankfully, it wasn't a weekend my daughter was here. But it could happen anytime. Sunday was pretty good, I actually got some work done in the yard. Just not all I planned. Tonight, I feel a little run down, but not totally drained of energy like Friday and Saturday. We'll see what the rest of THIS week brings. See you all soon. |
| Sorry it's been a week since my last entry. Had a lot going on around here and at work. Upshot of it all is that both Kenzie and I had a variety of aches and pains that ran the gammet from being barely noticeable to extremely painful. On her side, she had a few days where she ended up 'shutting down' and needing to nap during the day, with one day where it happened twice in the SAME day. My side? I've had a few nights where I shut down at a reasonable hour, often between 10 and 11 PM, but it came on so rapidly that I didn't have time to get my usual shower. I just get to the bed, lay down and I'm out within seconds. Except when my legs were killing me. And that was really bad one day. Right after getting home from work, I shut down AND my legs were all tightened up as I'd mentioned in earlier entries here. The combination was the first of it's kind for me. I'd never shut down right after work before. And the thing was, the only real relief I got from the leg pain was when I was laying down. Even sitting in this chair - or any sitting position - didn't help. Meaning - it wasn't enough to just be off my feet. Not this time. Only when I laid down did I feel any relief at all, and even then it wasn't making me pain free. Hopefully the next few days will be better for both of us. We shall see. And just so you don't wonder, I may or may not be able to make an entry tomorrow. Kenzie and I have a Wed. night deadline on submitting our stories about Fibromyalgia for publication, and we just received the opportunity today. So I'm likely to be busy writing that since I'm off work for the holiday tomorrow and can devote a good amount of time to this idea and do it properly. See you all ASAP. |
| IF nothing else, Fibromyalgia sure gives a person a look into how fast time passes. On the days when we really hurt, the time seems to drag by. And yet, before we know it, another week has gone by. Sheesh. Well, once Kenzie and I had a chance to talk after getting back from the airport last week, it looks like our suspicion was confirmed. The cabins they stayed in for the Colorado visit were about 9,000 feet above sea level. The Colorado Springs airport is about 4,000 feet above sea level. Kenzie said the whole time they were at the cabins she had no back pain, but that the back pain started up when they drove back to the airport for the return trip. So it is the height above sea level that for some unknown reason takes away her back pain. She's going to make a point of asking her doctor about that on her next visit. I want to know his thoughts on it myself. Now we're both back to normal - some form of pain every waking moment. Sheesh. I had a couple days this past week where my legs hurt so bad it hurt to even walk. Most days the pain is there in some form but doesn't change just because I'm walking. It's like a dull ache that doesn't go away. But on the really bad days, my legs will feel like all the muscles are tied up in tight knots, and the pain is accented with each step. And sometimes, with that, sitting down only helps a little; I don't get a noticeable amount of relief till I'm laying down. And even then the pain is in the background, but it's much more bearable. As for fatigue, I meant to enter this last night but suddenly found myself shutting down rapidly, like Kenzie often does. She had a strange episode yesterday. Came to bed about 1:30 AM, but when I awoke with my alarm at 5:50, she was already up. She said she'd slept a couple hours and woke up wide awake. Ouch. Couldn't go back to sleep so she got up - around 3:30 or 4:00. At least last night was normal for her. Obviously we'll both have to see what today and tonight bring. If I keep running out of energy at night, more of these updates might be weekend entries when I'm awake. We'll see. Take care, eveyone! |
| Today's entry has to be early. I didn't do as bad so far today as I thought I would. It was in the low to mid 50's for my daugher's soccer game this afternoon, and very damp. But my knees didn't really bug me this time. Go figure. But then, with Fibro you can't figure. Let's put it this way: with Fibromyalgia, in terms of how it's going to hit you at any given moment, and for how long, there's only one way to say it - the only thing you can count on is that you can't count on anything. No typical consistency, even for a given patient. The very next second can bring a whole new pain, in a new place, or one you had just yesterday. Or an hour ago. You never know. Anyone would have a far better chance of winning the lottery or winning in Las Vegas than they would have of predicting what Fibro will do. But I'm not knocking this relatively pain-free moment. Odds are in won't last. Especially since I have to be out late tonight picking Kenzie and Derek up at the airport. The plane is scheduled to arrive at CVG at 11:33 P.M. I plan on being there early, and am prepared to stay late if there's a delay. So I'm pretty certain this pain-free moment of mine will NOT last till I get to bed tonight. But, one can hope. I'll find out tonight if Kenzie is still free from back pain, and if not, was she still free of it when she boarded the plane in Colorado. We'll see if her thought about the atmosphere up there pans out for the "long" term - like her whole 4-day stay. I'm off. I have some things to do before I leave to pick them up. Watch that start my pain on its own. LOL I wouldn't be surprised. Later, all! |
| That's what Kenzie and I are wondering now. She and her son Derek are in Colorado for her niece's wedding. And Thursday night, when she called, she said that the thin air at that altitude, and the dryness in the air seem to make a difference in at least one of her pains - her back. They'd arrived there on Wednesday evening, so they'd been there about 24 hours. The change? For only the second time in her life since her back pain had started about 20 years ago or so, it was completely gone. She said the only other time she had been completely free of that pain was when she was in the hospital and on morphine. We'll see if any of the back pain returns before she leaves there Sunday afternoon. For those who are now wondering, yes, there's a down side. She also said that that Thursday morning when she first awakened, she felt as if she'd been run over by a semi. Everything hurt - literally - EXCEPT her back. And she had the first nosebleed she'd had in many, many years. So yes, the thin air and dryness were playing with her pains; but it wasn't all good news. We only talked briefly tonight, I'm hoping for another call tomorrow sometime so I can ask her about the back pain, and more. As for me, my pains are normal. My lower legs are killing me right now (11:25 P.M. Friday night). I'll be going to bed shortly after I enter this. I took the Nortriptylene about an hour ago so it should kick in almost anytime. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings for both Kenzie and me. Cold, damp air could well make me miserable, and my daughter has a soccer game at 1:00 P.M. Sheesh. Well, that, and how Kenzie feels tomorrow will be covered next time. I'm off to bed. |
| Greetings again, all! Today was a bit weird for me, and one that hurt Kenzie a bit. For some strange reason I have no chance of figuring out, my legs hurt me more this morning than they did this afternoon. That's backwards from the usual routine. They're bugging me more now, but it's 9:34 PM. Sheesh. We'll see what they do tomorrow. As for Kenzie, she did a good bit more walking today then usual as she and her son Derek had some shopping to do before taking a trip later this week. During all that walking, she had a misstep, and it threw her back and her knee out. She's going to try to get to the chiropractor's tomorrow, and she's resolved to be very careful on the trip, and will make a visit to the chiropractor when they get back. She's catching up on some sleep at the moment. All that activity drained her energy. Nothing new there, for either of us. We'll see what tomorrow brings. |
| It doesn't feel like two weeks since I was last here. Sheesh. Some days flew by (usually the ones with the least pain), and some felt like they took forever, either from the pain or the fatigue. I was actually so worn out when I got home from work this past Friday night (5/5) that I actually took a nap right off the bat, had Kenzie get me up at 10:00 to watch Numbers (we both love that show!) and we did that and ate a late supper together. Then this morning, she and I got up and checked out an estate sale nearby. The piece we wanted had been sold but we got our hands on a great bunch of record albums. Not CDs, the OLD record albums. From the 50s and 60s. for a buck each, 3 for $2.00. We got 18 of them in great condition. Yes, we have a turntable to play them on. Actually, we have two. LOL Then, wouldn't you know it, I fell asleep again, in this chair, between that time and my daughter's soccer game. So we'll see what time the energy disappears tonight. My legs have been bothering me all day, especially the knees. I had to do some knee bends during the soccer game to "loosen them up" and take away most of the pain. I'll be stretching them again after I send this and before I start some writing on my latest piece here. Kenzie's been doing pretty well the last few days, but then she had an appointment with the chiropractor last week, which always helps. But the pains never really leave us entirely alone anymore. THAT part we're used to. It's only a question, from moment to moment, of "What's going to hurt, and how bad will it be? I'll do my best not to be so long between updates. That's better for everyone, us included. Take care, all! |
| Hello again, everyone. I said in my last entry that we'd see how my energy level was when I got back from the reunion committee meeting. I think the excitement of the bull session and the memories that came up for all of us to share gave me a second wind of sorts. I only ran out of "spoons" about an hour ago, and it's 1:40 AM. After I send this I'll crawl in bed and worry about the shower in the morning. My legs are killing me from the waist down right now. I'll probably have to take a Neproxin along with the Nortriptylene this time. See you all later. I'm off to bed. |
| ...in a while. It's been a roller coaster. Some days it's been time constraints, but most of them it's been either pain or fatigue, both from the Fibro. Had a couple days where I virtually hurt all over at once; arms, legs, back. And a few evenings where I didn't have the energy to write (type), only to read. The mouse doesn't take much energy. Kenzie's been in the same position, almost literally. Pain and / or fatigue. She's sleeping right now, asked me to get her up in a couple hours. I slept about 9 hours last night, midnight to 9 this morning. Did pretty good on energy that way so I took the futon apart in Tiffany's room and took it to the garage. We've got a bunk bed coming for her on Monday. Now I have enough energy to do my laundry and do a little updating, so here I am. But that's about the extent of my energy. I'll have that level for a while, but I'll probably run out of spoons (energy) a bit earlier than usual tonight. I'm going to try to stay up a little and watch the late news, though. I don't get to during the week. Can't afford that little sleep when I have to get up for work. It's not enough. Right now, my legs are JUST starting to hurt a bit. They'll take a while to really get to bugging me, thankfully. And I can't get TOO tired too soon. I have a 7:00 meeting of my high school reunion committee tonight. Stuffing just under 300 envelopes to get a response for our reunion in late September. 40 years since I graduated. That number's a bit hard to swallow right now, but it's not tearing me apart. Just hard to believe. It'll undoubtedly be a bull session too LOL. We did that at a local restaurant a couple months back when we started organizing this thing. Met at 7:00, didn't break it up till about 10:30. We'll see what I feel like energy wise after tonight's meeting is over. |
| In recent entries here, I commented on how, on a small number of days, Kenzie would end up taking a nap that was basically unplanned when the Fibro kicked in and sapped her energy. Today was my turn, for only the second or third time in many months. I was at work this morning from 9:00 AM to noon. I got home about 1:00 P.M. after a drive that told me MY body was winding down. I'd even felt a bit sluggish just walking from the office to my car. When I got home, I was already dragging. I went to the bedroom, emptied the pockets of my slacks and shirt so I wouldn't end up laying on anything uncomfortably, laid down on my back on the bed, and that was it. I was out like a light. Proof? 1. I never (normally) sleep on my back. When Marilyn got back from the store and checked on me about 4:00, I was still on my back, my arms on my chest. I hadn't moved. 2. I snore every night. When she checked on me she said I hadn't made a sound since she'd been home. I got up for good about 5:30. And THAT'S when I noticed I hadn't taken my office ID badge off my belt. Emptied the pockets and forgot the badge. Whick also proved how tired I'd been. We'll see how late I'm up. I still don't feel I'm at full speed, I'm still a little sluggish. So I guess we'll see what happens over the next few hours. |
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