[Karen W.]

Hi Thanks for the nice message and I am here... Just Tired.I hope your day went ok.... How you feeling this evening? Those tests are no fun!


I woke up sick and started puking around %:oo am this morning until around 9:oo am.

A friend from church and old Called and I had tried to call her to get someone to get me some food..But I fell asleep the next thing I knew she called me and asked if there was anything I needed.. LOL.. Such odd coincidences... Asked if she could pick me up some things from the store so I could see if it would stay down.. I was so hungry...

She brought food and I ate it about 10 am. Then I fell asleep for hours.. I was having a dream about her putting my dishes in a basket and taking them to her place and washing them... LOL so when I woke up at about 4 PM Rob came and I went to the store with him but was flustered cause I was so hungry and could not remember when she had come..or I had eaten, and should I really be hungry.. LOL So I called her while standing in the isle of the store..sure enough that was at almost 10 am she said. so
I went ahead and bought some dinner. She said, are you ready for me to bring back your clean dishes..?" LOL.. I said, "did you really do that..?" LOL she laughed and said, "Hon You were out cold and I tried to wake you, but I took them anyways cause you were not waking .. LOL She snickered and said your chest was rising and falling so I knew you were just sleeping and way out of it!" Basically was her statement.. Boy I hate it when my pills and being sick get the best of me.. I was so rummy that they could have torn the house down around me and I would not have heard them or known what was happening!

I hope you feel well tonight..
Thanks again...

[OldDragon (OP)]

Here it is only 5am, Karen, and my hospital appointment isn't until 11am - and I have yet to sleep!  [] I think I'll go and run a bath and see if that will help? I often sleep or meditate in the bath and let the tap trickle enough to keep the water warm. My helper has a fit, but my sleep pattern is so disrupted at present, any sleep will do.

Sometimes, like you, I sleep really deeply and through anything. I once arrived home in the early hours and after working away, to find there was a 14' waterspout shooting up from the road outside where a water main had burst and it was 1 am in the morning. It was hitting the outside of my house, and the sound of water on the window really loud. I called the emergency number for the water board, made a cup of tea and went to bed. I can remember the noise of the workmen arriving and starting digging up the road right outside my bedroom window, but fell asleep regardless.

When I woke all the neighbours were up in arms and complaining they'd not had any sleep because of the pneumatic drill etc. They couldn't believe I'd not heard it... but glad I didn't let on to them that I'd called out the emergency services at that hour of the morning to fix it! []

Will let you know how I get on tonight and when I return - unless I manage to fall asleep first and either miss the appointment or can't stay awake long enough after it. I am allowed out of the hospital between having the injection and the scan, so, if allowed to eat, may grab a nice lunch there, as they have a very good cafeteria, then sleep it off in my car, which is very comfy, but I'll need to let them know where I am and hope to goodness they'll be able to wake me! []

I often can't remember if or when I last ate, too. Half the time I don't even know what day of the week or date it is either. []

[Karen W.]

Me too.. about the day of the week thingy too.. Its embarrassing.. sometimes have to go look out the window to see if its  night or day.. Those are usually bad days .. and I don't even open the blinds or the curtains! .. I hate those days as they all run into one  long long day!

[OldDragon (OP)]

Having such an erratic sleep pattern as I have, it's not unheard of for me to try taking a nap in the afternoon and to wake up and see that my watch says its five or six o'clock, so decide to pop up the road to the local store. It's only when I get there, and find it closed, that it starts to sink in that the street is very quiet for an evening... Then I'll realise it is morning. []

I don't tend to feel embarrassed, but simply amused. It's an excuse for a chuckle to share with friends.

[OldDragon (OP)]

Karen, I am sure that, whatever the Power greater than me is, and that I believe in, whether it's called God, Mother Nature, Fate or whatever, one things is certain. It has a sense of humour!

I am sitting here sneezing my head off, after just getting back from checking once more to see how the pony is after her bout of colic. The vet said she could have a few handfuls of hay if she wanted to eat. I must have shook out a bit absolutely laden with pollen! Already I can feel my back starting to kick off again, but at least the pony's feeling better and has settled down now. The old horse seems to be going back and forth to check she's okay and still around. Glad I left the gate to the yard and barn doors open, else he'd likely have flattened those by now.

Seems my son has had his spies out, and one reported to him that I was seen walking back from the yard... Not very good spies, as I had the car! I'd just picked up the wrong keys, so had to walk to where the fence was suitable for me to get over easily instead of unlocking the gate.

Came home to mayhem. Forgot to shut the collie out of the kitchen, so he did his usual bin raid trick. He has to remove every single item and deposit it like a paperchase trail through the house before he is satisfied. Lol

They say things always happen in threes, so I am hoping that with me being ill, then the dog, and now the pony, that's all three done and dusted, and perhaps now I can get back to normal? []

[Karen W.]

You should pick up a surgical mask for the hay problem to filter out the pollen they work good for me too. It was Smokey here all day have some bad fires up above us and the ash and smoke are beginning to fall down on us a bit here. The wild fires this season are already in full swing here in northern California!

[OldDragon (OP)]

It's an odd thing, but all winter I fed hay from the same source and without a problem, but a good idea to use a mask... Thinking about it, usually I have my specs on when doing the horses, but it was wet last night and I took them off and popped them in my pocket. I can see just as well with or without them at night, and to do that sort of task, and was afraid of losing or damaging them if I fell in the mud getting over the fence. I often find it's things like smoke getting in my eyes that can trigger allergy reactions.

We also have fires here on the adjacent, old reclaimed colliery site, but it's been too wet recently. They are usually started around here deliberately, and by children, I'm afraid. School holidays can be a nightmare, especially. Ours are nothing like on the scale of those I have seen on TV and in California, though. I don't envy you those at all, and hope they are dampened down very quickly. Would willingly send you the rain we have had here lately, if I could. It doesn't feel like summer at all, more like autumn and my old horse was munching on the leaves blown off the trees this morning, too. Why, even my nipples seem to feel cold today, judging by the way both at standing to attention today! Lol (The one was inverted prior to my first op, and took a while to reappear following surgery. I actually thought for a while that I'd lost it, as the surgical scar couldn't have been any closer at that end. Lol)

[Karen W.]

I hope the mask helps you.. Yeah that is a shame about the fires.. both here and there. It can sure reek havoc with the old lungs!

I am glad your nipple came out of hiding! LOL It was just in shock!  The weather will bring them to attention for sure! LOL!

 How are you feeling today.. I hope you are doing ok. Was thinking of you out in the rain dealing with those birds by yourself.. I hope you got warmed up and your tea did the trick!

I still have not tried it I need to look again I was unable to find any last time! Will try the co-op next!

Hope you have a good morning and feel good today!

[OldDragon (OP)]

The weather here is still wet and autumnal, Karen, which means my joints are talking to me well, including my lumbar spine, but that's just dull aching, not the same at all as what the thoracic spine is capable of kicking off with,although I can feel that twitching a bit, so it's an aspirin day today.

Now that the doc has insisted on adding those to my regular prescription, making them 'official' - even though he has know I was taking them for years - he will be able to see and monitor exactly what dosage keeps the inflammation damped down and the points where it fails, and see for himself what occurs to interfere with it.

He could certainly see, looking back through my records, just how often and over what time periods, it has been necessary to step in with a short course of steroids to get things back on track. Managing that inflammation seems to be the key both to my arthritis and to a degree, my fibro. Get it right, and if I don't do anything silly, and the spasms and electric shock sensations that seem to trigger over-production of various natural body chemicals, also seem to be controlled. With those behaving, my head seems to remain fairly level and rational.

Last night I had another reasonable amount of sleep, but I'm not feeling as refreshed as I'd like, so I'm hoping that will be improved with the IBT trial. I think the gentle traction that will put on my spine will help, because I think the neurological aspects  hold the key. My fibro kicked off following a back injury, and many symptoms have that neurological connection, including the sensation of of having spiders or centipedes walking over my back, the burning/scalded skin sensations - especially over my shoulders and upper chest at present, and when the skin itself is quite cool to touch, walking into cobwebs etc. []

Even though my doctor has indicated his skepticism about IBT helping varicose veins and oedema, he does seem sufficiently interested to want to know how I get on with it. He said he couldn't see any harm in doing the trial, just to expect the veins and oedema to get worse. I think he's expecting me to return to beg for another prescription for frusemide, and despite me explaining about taking nettle tea and asparagus, and how my calf measurements have already reduced considerably (up to 5cms for the one) simply by using those. Whatever, he wants to be kept in the loop.

Knowing some of the other areas that I'm involved in with my voluntary work, he couldn't really see what benefit it would be to me to be referred to the hospital's pain management clinic or for any counselling for anxiety! Lol In fact, I suspect he knows exactly what I meant when I remarked to him how difficult I found it communicating with some of the medical staff that seem unable to grasp or even listen to what I had been attempting to explain to them. That cannot hope to understand something they don't have any experience of or the ability to draw emotional parallels with something the do have the personal experience of.

Seriously, Karen, when talking with some of the medical staff, I was reminded of a counselling skills course that I had to attend some years ago, and because my training and qualifications didn't include a basic bit of paper required by the system. For simplicity sake, I did that course, and it's likely the same one that many medical staff attend as part of their training.

In that there was a small amount of role-play involved, where the students had to 'act' various parts of  potential clients, as well as the role of a counsellor.

In many cases, the students lacked the life experiences to enable them to get into the client roles, in others, if they had the life experiences, they'd never undergone any form of therapy or addressed their own issues, so how on earth could they hope to help another person in those circumstances?

No sane blind person would rely on another without sight, to lead them through an obstacle course or a mine field, as that would be madness - and yet that is what I experienced and they were attempting to do, and with anything outside of the actual cancer treatment it was a minefield for them! In fact, anything else that might impact on, or that the cancer treatment could impact on, was outside their ability to address too. They weren't even giving me the basic information that I could look up the answers for myself or take to people who were able to provide answers! They couldn't (or wouldn't) even tell me how to unblock that wretched wound drain for a start and answers like 'put a plaster on it' are too ridiculous for words in those circumstances! Lol If that's how they deal with that situation, how can they hope to deal with the complexities of a system like I have, with the allergies, drug sensitivities and neurological problems?  []

Naive and inadequate, though they might be, at least they mean well and do seem to know their own specialist areas well, even if listening skills and attitudes are not likely to score much more than a 1 or 2 out of 10 from me! Mind you, I doubt they would award me even that score, but at least I KNOW I can be arrogant, patronising and full of contempt. In myself, it's for me to address those things, as they are easily amongst the greatest of my shortcomings. Perhaps that is why I find them so easy to recognise in others? [] (But, of course, there is nothing wrong with them... It's everyone else! [] )

[Karen W.]

It is all very complicated if one has "never been there" so to speak. I find the same problems when trying to explain what is happening inside my body and inside my head.. I know what s happening but can't explain it.. I feel things that are not right but to explain that is impossible...

Mentally the battle inside my head rages on and I find it very hard to keep negative thoughts away as Its hard to find positive feelings when pain and sickness fill you with misery and very short days of reprieves.. I find it important to try to laugh at whatever opportunity I can even if I am the only one doing so because I am the only one finding humor in something or even myself! I have a very poor sense of humor sometimes it needs a kick start and a huge boost!
 Yes I understand the weather thing I also get achy especially my ankles shoulder and hip joints... My hands ache also when it becomes so damp!

You have a nice attitude.. I like it.. "Its everyone else!" LOL...

Hope you feel better throughout the day.. and get some more rest if possible,, I failed again last night .. but today is a new day.. I am done counting sleepless nights it only makes me feel worse to know how long I have been awake! LOL

Have a good day.


 

[OldDragon (OP)]

We have a thunderstorm overhead now, but gradually passing. I was going to dash off earlier to do the horses, so that I'd be back in time to watch Rafael Nadal playing Andy Murray at Wimbledon, but even missing a bit of that match won't get me out in this weather! Lol

The horse and pony won't be expecting me until later anyway, and are hardly starving.

Karen, remember what I said in an earlier PM about the things we cannot change... Well, I keep repeating it now to myself, cos one thing is sure, I cannot change the weather! (Although I suspect Andrew may be able to have some influence over it in certain parts of the world! Lol)

At least it is raining in Wimbledon, too, delaying the current match. It'll be just my luck that Nadal & Murray won't get on court until tomorrow, when I have appointments I can't change. [] [] - Something, somewhere, has a sense of humour... []

[Karen W.]

Yes I remember! Boy it is odd you, Rosalind, Neily, Turnipsock all have tennis on the brain the last couple days.. LOL... Yesterday it was salmon... smoked salmon!One day everyone was asparagus crazy... LOL... oh gawwwwwwd I think my mind has finally collapsed... LOL I read all these posts and then things start sticking in my head like lists.. LOL I think I am bored or my brain has changed its organizational skills and is now storing weird things in all the odd corners! Jeesh.. I'm loosing it! LOL...

Tenis must be popular there whilst tournaments are in process!!!

Take care in that weather.

[Karen W.]

Hey I wonder if that dehumidifier will help ease the aching from the weather?

[OldDragon (OP)]

Lol - People seem to either love or hate tennis over here, Karen but then there are guys who like to watch the women playing, and it was then that I started take the Mick out of them by insisting on watching the men play. Where as they would be commenting on those bits of the female anatomy that appealed to them and had nothing to do with the sport, I'd wind them up by commenting on the muscles, clever play, athleticism etc., mutter a few comments to compare the best players to racehorses and so on. Heck, if they wanted to lower the tone with their comments, I'd up it, and just to prove and score a few points. Funny thing was, I got to enjoy watching tennis in the process. []

I have a dehumidifier, Karen, but have been finding it too hot and dusty in this little place without a window open. We have a lot of fabrics here and cutting those and sewing can really create a dust. To sleep at all, I often need to do that in the bath, so a bit awkward dehumidifying a room with a bath of hot water steaming away in it. Strange how the bath eases both my chest and the back, but rain aggravates it. It doesn't seem to make much sense.

BTW, I had asparagus again tonight with a chicken and rice dish. []

[Karen W.]

No it doesn't make any sense I find the same thing here but had never thought about dehumidifying anything. People with Tb always did better in dirt climate.. so was thinking hummmmm it might work for the ole rheumatism, aches pains and such too! LOL.. Not that I have TB I don't LOL but you know the ole routine! LOL..

The only way I want to watch a tennis match is if its men and they are naked...LOL.. wonder what Wimbledon would say to that? LOL  Do you think the idea has a chance!! I might start enjoying the watching of Tennis! LOL!!! Hee hee hee! I can think of a man or two, I would not mind seeing smacking the ball around in the raw! lol....

[OldDragon (OP)]

The best you get at Wimbledon is a flash of chest muscles if the male players change their shirts during a break. [] I wouldn't mind at all if the men played topless. [] Don't suppose the men would mind if the women did...

[Karen W.]

Oh I have seen plenty chest muscles whats the fun in that!? LOL I want the full Monty!!!

[OldDragon (OP)]

Lol... Somehow I think we will both be disappointed.

[Karen W.]

LOL.. I don't know.. I think we need some volunteers to demonstrate for us.. I have a feeling a few studs from the forum would prove to not be so disappointing! LOL

What's that? Do I hear a volunteer? eh... I CAN'T HERE YOU!!  LOL LOL...

[Karen W.]

I hope you had a good day today and that you are feeling better.