Help Me Tom Cruise!

Help Me Tom Cruise! is our family mantra; whenever a family member is extremely deranged, sick or tired we shout this out to one another, or at times, even to ourselves, to let each other know how we feel by making a little joke about it.  You may remember Ricky Bobby screaming it after his car crash in the movie Talladega Nights. 

It became the family mantra one night I was driving all the kids home from Catechism, it was dark, and I was making a hard left turn out of a busy church parking lot when these words escaped my mouth at the top of my lungs when I missed seeing an approaching car.  The four of us could not stop laughing, and a new catch phrase was born.

After a long week filled with major drama, which I’m not able to share here, I’m shouting out to all of you Help Me Tom Cruise! to let you all know that I’m just extremely busy, sick and exhausted.  Of course, I’m stressed, too, but it is down a bit, but still there, the bastard.!  I’ve read six books in seven days, which is nice.  My last read was The Help, which is like the best book I’ve read in 2010, if not 2009, just wait for my review!  I spent 56 hours up awake, 12 of which were spent sitting in the surgery waiting room, in hard hospital chairs, waiting for and thankfully getting good news, only to come home and not be able to fall asleep.  I managed nine hours, but then stayed awake another 24 hours straight.  I have had insomnia since childhood, but get it bad like only when I’m sick, or uber stressed.  My record is 9 days awake, with some mini naps thrown in during that time, but no full sleep, even on Lunesta.  That was in 2004 when I had Bronchitis that turned into walking Pneumonia that lasted for three weeks.  I supposed I should be happy my insomnia could have been much worse.

Last night I had a 90 minute in home massage (that I can’t really afford but thankfully I get a huge discount since she is a friend) which I desperately needed, as I have seven herniated, torn and bulged disks in my spine, and have bone spurs in my neck and feet due to my bloody awful Degenerative Joint Disease.  My body has never been more tight and full of knots per my therapist.  Since it had been 4 months since I had any physical therapy or a massage, I knew that was why.  (I had a total of six months of physical therapy last year, two months on each area.  I’ve been getting PT since the 90s, and it hurts so much.)  My massage was the best one I’ve EVER had, and all I kep hearing was pop, pop, pop.  I could have died when she popped a huge knot in my foot.  I was so stiff I didn’t realize that I wasn’t even able to move most of my shoulders and neck muscles, and I felt like a million bucks before getting really sick an hour later.  Sigh.  It was like four different kinds of sickness all at once, never felt like that before.  I drank a ton of water before and after my massage, because they warn you of toxin release, but I’ve never experienced any type of reaction like this before, so I must have been totally toxic because I still feel pretty crappy nearly 21 hours later. 

I repeat, Help me Tom Cruise! 

I have a bunch more books to read, reviews to write, jobs to look for, volunteer shifts to work, school concerts and stepmom stuff to do the rest of the week, so if you don’t see me replying to your comments, or on Facebook, or visiting your own blogs, I hope you’ll understand why.  I’m also planning on a huge stress post, and how to help lower it, so keep your eyes open for it within the next two weeks.  I’m sure it is a post that all of us would benefit reading.

[Via http://thegirlfromtheghetto.wordpress.com]

Median Nerve Block Pt 1 = Rest & Relief

I had the Median Nerve Block on the right side at the end of November.  The procedure starts just like the diagnostic one I posted about earlier. You are taken into a room and once prepped (clothes arranged while lying on the bed sso that the dr has access to the points injections are needed. The a set of 5 injections are given. I know there is a ‘tube’ through which the electrodeis placed into the nerve ending. Each one is burnt for a matter of seconds. I did feel the injection and a electrical shock kind of like touching a small live wire. It was not excruciating but it was noticeable. I think the needles set my Fibromyalgia off. I did have small puncture marks for days to weeks. The first few days I was really on the sofa not feeling well. I have promised to offer a realistic view point from my perspective on these procedures and medications. My Fibro has flared and it blurred the line between pain from the procedure and Fibro. The procedure was on Wed and I was in church on Sunday.

By the end of the first week I was starting to feel some of the good side effects. I was able to get up and work around the house a little without some of the pain in my lower back. But I still had other problems that I say is my hip not back. On the 2nd Wed I was suppose to go in for the Median Branch Nerve Block on the left side. The Monday before I changed the appointment into a consultation one and I refuse to have the left side done. Before all of these procedures I was having no pain on my left side. Or at least not anything like the right. The dr insisted that from my MRI’s the left side also needed to be treated. I think the first injections just lubricated my left side so I did start feeling the pain. On Wed I was unable to go. It was another headache, lay on the sofa day. My appointment was rescheduled until Monday. By the weekend I felt MUCH better. I was able to do limited activities. I did get tied up on Monday with family problems and did not get to the appointment and as of this date I have not rescheduled.

It is now a full month after the procedures. I do feel much better. I can go for long periods of time doing normal activity without the back problem I was having on the right side. The problems I was having driving (my right leg and side had much pain from the pressure of using the gas pedals) are gone. If I do something big like shopping for hours or cleaning out a closet I do suffer pain but it does not occur every second like it did before nor to the degree it was.

I completely say that if this lasts 6-18 months like I was told to expect then it is definitely worth it. I am feeling pretty well in regards to the areas these injections are designed to help. I can pick my grandchildren up for hugs, I cannot carry the bigger one around but I can pick hm up for hugs. If needed I can drive o check on my family in the next tow. I will not do this much but I can without pulling over to the side of the road from the pain.  I will not have the proceduare on the left side. Not at this time. If the pain gets to the point it did on the right and interferes with my day to day activities to a degree it stops me from doing it then I will. But it will have to be very much so than now.

I know God is in control. He has enabled me a respite so that I can take care of family business. So that I can pick my grandchildren up and hug them. So I can continue through a little longer. He is able to do so much more than I can conceive and I am grateful during every movement I could not have done before.

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 16:9

[Via http://chronicjoy.wordpress.com]

Research Shows: Increased Rate Of Fibromyalgia Following Head And Neck Trauma

This study showed that adults with head and neck injuries are 13 times more likely to develop fibromyalgia.1 Other studies have also shown that trauma is direct related to the development of fibromyalgia.2,3 As I have said in previous posts, STRESS (chemical, physical and emotional) is the cause of fibromyalgia, and the changes in your body, are the symptoms of these stressors.  We take a unique approach, that has the potential to make a significant change in people with fibromyalgia.

1. Buskila D, Neumann L, Vaisberg G, Alkalay D, Wolfe F. Increased rates of fibromyalgia following cervical spine injury. A controlled study of 161 cases of traumatic injury. Arthritis Rheum. 1997 Mar;40(3):446-52.
2. Neumann L, Zeldets V, Bolotin A, Buskila D. Outcome of posttraumatic fibromyalgia: a 3-year follow-up of 78 cases of cervical spine injuries. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2003 Apr;32(5):320-5.
3. Buskila D, Neumann L. Musculoskeletal injury as a trigger for fibromyalgia/posttraumatic fibromyalgia. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2000 Apr;2(2):104-8.

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[Via http://drbradshook.com]

Keeping Our Vision

“Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he”   (Proverbs 29:18 KJV).

I have heard this verse quoted many times and applied to many circumstance. I recently realized how applicable this verse is to those of us with health conditions.

Living with limitations, it is easy to lose vision for our lives. Having to give up a job, career, ministry, or daily household tasks, we can feel useless and unnecessary. It becomes easy to fall into depression and isolation, and we can indeed begin to “perish”. I found that happening to myself at one point. The more depressed and isolated I became, the more difficulty I had bringing myself back in to contact with others. I was denying the truth of God’s Word which says that He has a plan and purpose for my life, regardless of my physical condition.

The Lord has a vision and purpose for each of us at this point in time. Before my health decline, my only writing consisted of college term papers written years ago. Yet God had a vision for my life which I would not have thought possible – writing devotionals. The same is true for each of us. We may not all be called to write, but we can intercede for, encourage, and support others to the glory of God in various ways.

Although health problems may seem to limit our earthly usefulness, they do not limit our usefulness in God’s kingdom. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8), and He will bring about all that He has planned (Is 46:11). As we seek the Lord’s face, His light will guide and direct us in to the purposes He has for us, even in our infirmities. Every day, may we ask the Lord to see our lives with a thriving heavenly vision, rather than a perishing earthly one.

Prayer: Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; nought be all else to me, save that Thou art- Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light (Irish hymn). Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bronlynn Spindler is a wife and mother of three grown daughters and lives in Fredericksburg, VA. God’s grace and strength give her the ability to deal with chronic back pain, depression, headaches, and fibromyalgia. You may view her blog of devotionals at www.aplaceofsprings57.blogspot.com and contact her at spindler@cox.net.

[Via http://chronicillnesspaindevotionals.wordpress.com]

OFF COURSE BUT STILL SEEING THE GOAL

During these past twelve years, I have been given many different prescription drugs to help with my various symptoms.  Inevitably, I would have to stop taking them since adding side effects  to the already present symptoms were not tolerable! Once again, I think I am experiencing side effects from one of my prescriptions .   My thermal regulator is compromised and I am always warmer than anyone else in the room.  Throughout the day I will have spells where the heat  increases until I feel lightheaded and nauseous and extremely uncomfortable. The problem is that this prescription seems to be helping to some extent with the heat changes, but for some reason it is increasing my light- headedness and dizziness and weakness!  I have found over the years that often the side effects merely increase some of the symptoms I am already experiencing which makes it difficult to know whether it is a side effect!  I am hoping I can tolerate taking a lower dosage of this pill since it was helping to some extent moderate the heat that was  waking  me continually throughout the night.

It is difficult not to become discouraged when my progress is once again hindered by these frustrating but predictable occurrences.  However, recently I saw a great visual demonstration that keeps me optimistic.   I was watching a DVD from Jack Canfield’s program, “Break Throughs To Success”.  He had a person stand twenty feet in front of him saying, “You’re On Course” when Jack walked straight ahead.  When Jack began to take a side step or began walking in circles, the person would say, “Off Course.”  This process would continue until Jack stood directly in front of him.  In other words, no matter how many times Jack got off course, as long as he got back on course,  he still reached his destination!  This demonstration was to impress his viewers of the importance of receiving feedback from others when you are attempting to reach a goal.   For me, what resonated fully was that  no matter how many side steps or setbacks I experience that arise from being chronically ill, I can still attain my goal of becoming healthier.  It may just take a little longer!  Today, I feel like I am a little “off course”, but perhaps after I see my doctor on Friday, I will be given some new ideas on how to get back “on course” and actually stay “on course” for awhile!

[Via http://gaylejervis.wordpress.com]

My day, his day

Sorry about the disappearing act there, folks. Those migraines really knocked me flat. I’ve gotten things back in hand, just in time for the semester to start (whoo boy). Right, now, on to the real entry.

I wrote a while ago about how my service dog having a bad day could mean a bad day for me. It’s a two-way street. Me having a bad day often means a bad day for him.

The worst are probably migraine days. I end up stuck in bed, with the fan on to provide white noise to cover the screaming neighbors and the general noise of living in the city. Oh how I miss the suburban house of my childhood when I have migraines! When you do not share walls with anyone, it is much easier to get true quiet, which is one of the things a migraine makes you covet intensely.

If I’m stuck in bed, Hudson’s stuck in the bedroom. On my side of the bedroom. Which means he’s got at most a 30 square feet to move around in – a 3′ wide corridor that starts with his dog bed and runs between the dresser and the bed to the door. In all honesty, it’s probably smaller than that. He’s not supposed to wander around in the rest of the bedroom, not that it’s real easy to get around in.

Because we live in an old house, the bedrooms aren’t very big. We have a queen sized bed, mostly because I sleep with a body pillow and am very demanding of my space. The boyfriend is a very average sized guy, not the kind of rail-thin waif that could squeeze in to less the 1/3 of a full sized bed that I’d leave free for him.

So there’s poor Hudson, stuck in that little tiny space. I can’t give him a toy full of treats like I do when I’m busy downstairs working, because his method of getting the treats out of the toy involves throwing the toy at the ground repeatedly, a rather noisy operation. Exactly the kind of thing that would make me start crying during a migraine.

I also can’t get up every hour or so to work on something with him, the way I do when I’m doing schoolwork. It’s part of what keeps his brain busy – we practice service tasks. We do his daily training routine. Once again, the kind of thing I can’t do when I have a migraine. I’m usually dizzy, nauseated, and in a great deal of pain. Standing up, bending over, and the other sorts of thigns I have to do to work on his training just ain’t happening. Frankly, when I’ve got a migraine, the best thing to do is sleep through it.

So that’s what we do. We sleep. At least, I assume he does, out of boredom. The boyfriend has to take the dog out to do his business, and bring his food up for me to give the dog.

When it’s a subluxed hip, or my back all a mess, the situation is much the same, though then I do sometimes remember to give Hudson toys to play with. He tends to get bored with them rather quickly, though, and so there we lay – me reading, him sleeping.

I’ll admit, I feel quite a bit of guilt for all the things he doesn’t get to do on days when I’m laid up. I mean, a dog is not meant to live in the narrow space between dresser and bed. He’s meant to go run, to play, to just be a dog. He’s meant to spend time with me, learning and goofing off. And when I’m having one of these kinds of bad days, he doesn’t get any of that.

These are not, however, the bad days I feel the worst about. Oh no. That distinction goes to the days where I am in a great deal of pain but must go do something anyhow – whether it’s going to school or a doctor’s appointment.

Then, I’m short tempered. Short on praise. Quick to correct, and harsh with my corrections when I don’t get obedience quickly. Unable to be patient when he’s getting scared by traffic or the trolley we have to ride on, because he’s hurting me.

I imagine those are the worst days for him. Getting snapped at, rarely being told he’s doing things right, me forgetting commands and needing him to do things anyhow…

These are the days you don’t imagine would happen when you set out to get a service dog. The days where your health condition punishes your dog, for no reason other than that you have to rely on him and can’t deal with imperfect work. It’s unfair, it’s harsh, and all I can do is humbly apologize to him and promise I will try harder not to do that next time. The boyfriend may understand why he gets his head bitten off when I feel like this, but Hudson does not.

I cannot express how thankful I am that dogs are such forgiving creatures, for Hudson does not hold these days against me. I think he remembers better the days when I take him to the park and throw his toy for him again and again than he does the days when I’m not fit to work with anyone, least of all him. Or at least, I hope he does.

[Via http://brilliantmindbrokenbody.wordpress.com]

I'm starting to feel the effects...

I woke up this morning feeling a little…better. Nothing huge. Perhaps not so much “great” as “not so bad”.

Been dealing with a bit of water-weight, but that’s because I’ve been having more sodium than usual (I’m “sodium-sensitive”) and not enough water to help flush things out. It’s interesting how drinking more water helps reduce water weight. I know why, scientifically…I’ve just always found it amusing.

I’m sure part of my improvement is related to the fact that I started back on my supplements yesterday. I take a number of them to help combat deficiencies in my diet due to poor nutrition. Not so much because of what I’m eating now as due to the poor eating habits I’ve maintained for far too long. Note: No, I’m not interested in getting any sort of spam about nutritional supplements. The routine I have works. Not to mention that I loathe spam. And spammers.

I made some mighty tasty Chicken Soup with Greens late last night. I had the midnight munchies and threw it together. I thought about calling it Green Chicken Soup, but figured the mental image might be a bit much.

I need to cook up some other grains besides millet. Don’t get me wrong…I really like millet (yes, I know…it’s “bird seed”). But it’s been in just about everything I’ve eaten for the last four days, including the aforementioned Chicken Soup with Greens. It’s time for a change-up.

It was hard getting back on the diet…err, lifestyle change…but the biggest obstacle was mental. Thinking about “all those foods” I couldn’t have. That’s why I finally focused on the “One At A Time” part of it. Once choice at a time. One change at a time. One step at a time towards my goal. If I look at the whole journey, it’s overwhelming. I can do one step. And then another. And another.

This morning I found some of the fudge my daughter gave us for Christmas. Good fudge. Tasty fudge. But I looked at it and not only did I NOT want some, I thought, “Bleah”. There wasn’t even a craving there. A few days ago, I wouldn’t have thought twice about snagging a piece or three. An interesting note: I’ve heard that if you’re craving chocolate, it can be a sign of a magnesium deficiency. Due to my fibromyalgia and other issues, magnesium is something I really need to take, but I haven’t consistently taken my supplements for awhile. I’ve been having horrible chocolate cravings lately…something I don’t normally do. One of the supplements I started back on was my magnesium. Today…no chocolate cravings. Hmmm…

Being in the middle of this lifestyle change wasn’t the hard part. Starting it was. Today, looking back…I’m glad I started back on it. I’m feeling better enough to remember that it’s well worth it.

One choice at a time.

[Via http://oneatatime86.wordpress.com]