d_a_r_a | Entries tagged with health issues

Can't say that I've missed the insomnia...might possibly have something to do with the 5 cups of coffee I had this afternoon...seemed like a good idea at the time. ;) Hmm, well...la de dah dum...read all my friends pages, checked all my e-mail, what else is there to do...mmmm, ebay's looking pretty tempting right about now, I'm still not sleepy in the least. I need an intervention. :)

In other news, we bought a Total Gym. I'm finally going to get into shape - well, some other shape than round. Between it and the treadmill and the exercise ball I got I should be able to do all the exercises I've been doing in Physical Therapy. Which means tomorrow...er, later today?...is my last PT appointment, yay! We'll set up a home program for me and I'll be on my own.

Still waiting to hear back on that job...trying to be patient...hoping for the best. Still applying elsewhere since I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket. I guess I could tackle the "homework" from my writers group. I have to write a 250 word story using the following 5 words: spot, ocean, hypnogogic, miasma, and disembowelment. Should be a challenge. I also could be working on my novel right now but I've had writers block for a couple of weeks now. I like to think that it's marinating in the juices of my brain...but maybe I'm just lazy, scared, or undisciplined...we'll go with the marinating, it sounds better.

Current Mood: awake

So our lesson for today children is when the unemployment office tells you that it will take 8 weeks....yes, eight e-i-g-h-t weeks just to make a decision as to whether or not you are eligible for unemployment you can either accept that answer or whine to the governor's office. Yes, I filled out a little form on the state of michigan's web page requesting assistance from the governor's office last week and now my decision will be taking place sometime this week instead of many weeks into the future. And hence the age old adage that the squeaky wheel gets the oil continues to hold true. A lovely, extremely helpful young lady called me, asked me a bunch of questions about my quiting my job for medical reasons (due to the fibro and the nature of the job which entailed quite a bit of heavy lifting) and then told me she needed to call my employer but I should have a decision by the end of the week. Now we can just pray that the decision is in my favor and I will have income again - about half of what I WAS making, but income all the same! Something to tide me over until I find gainful employment of a less stressful variety. The lady I spoke to did say that it sounded like I had tried everything I could before quiting, asking to go part-time or have different job duties that weren't so taxing if possible. The company I was at said part-time was not an option and neither was restructuring my job duties and since they were a small company they didn't have any positions for me to transfer into either. So as long as the company doesn't pull anything on me and claim otherwise or attempt to block my unemployment compensation I should be in the clear.

On a completely unrelated note...if you like LOTR and/or potatoes you should check this out (ganked from

ogasnor)

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/taters.php

Well, life has just been a series of physical therapy sessions interspersed with more daytime television than could possibly be healthy...still looking for work. I can't wait to see what Sammy does to get back at Kate on Days! :) Someone help me I've fallen off the soap opera wagon!

I've now been in PT for 1 1/2 weeks and I can't believe how much better I am doing. It is really amazing how much moderate aerobic activity does help my fibro. Emphasis on the MODERATE part. In the past I've tried to do too much too fast and ended up in pain and then would end up giving up. I started out slow and for only 10 minutes at a time on the treadmill and I've slowly picked up a touch of speed and am now doing 15 minutes 2x a day at 2 miles per hour. That means I've walking a mile a day. It's a start. My physical therapists also have me doing strength training exercises with my legs and arms that are really helping too. I have a thera-band I use at home (rubber tube/resistance band thingy) and I use the weight machines during my PT sessions.

Between the improvement from PT and from taking the Zoloft - plus the hormone therapy I'm on to help with the fatigue (which really seems to be kicking in now that I've been on it a couple months) I'm thinking it should even be possible for me to work full-time if I can find a pretty low stress job. I started applying to full-time stuff in addition to the part-time stuff a few weeks ago. We'll see what turns up. One thing's for sure I'm sick of sitting at home all day watching soaps. :)

The weekend was busy, but lots of fun. I would just like to know how in the heck it got to be Thursday already...heck, only 32 minutes until Friday now. It was nice briefly seeing David and Robyn. Guess we'll have to trek out to Iowa sometime if we want to spend some more time with them - when they come to MI they have so many people to see, weddings to attend etc.

This week I've been hyper focused on finding a treadmill - which I did this evening and it is now in my living room. I need to get regular light aerobic activity to help out with my fibromyalgia. I move too little I hurt, I move to much I hurt - we are looking for that happy medium. I can't go walking outside in this cold because that just makes the pain worse. So yay for indoors and treadmills.

I have also been hyper focused on Kyla this week - and the sad part of that is that Kyla's not real. She's my character in the WoD campaign. But she's part of the Irish mob so I'm learning all I can about the Irish in America in general and the Irish mob in particular. Yes, I even got books from the library just to research background for a rpg character. Okay, I may be a little bit of a geek - but I'm not working right now so I have time on my hands. I'm not writing right now either because I'm experiencing severe writers block. *sigh* Gaming is tomorrow night so I'll get to put all my background research to use! Yay!

Had an awesome session of WoD last night. That's got to be the first time I've played in a group that had an even number of men and women - 3 of each. I'm rather used to being completely outnumbered by the men. I must say it's kind of nice to have it evened up for a change. It was my first time playing a new character who I think I'm really going to enjoy playing. She's Irish Mafia and handy with a knife.

Tonight Randy and Kelly are coming over for dinner and that should be lots of fun.

Tomorrow we're meeting my brother and David & Robyn/

facetiae for breakfast before we go to church and David & Robyn go back to Iowa. It will be so good to see them - it's been a while.

Life is good - I think I kind of like being on Zoloft. My doctor put me on it to see if it would help my fibromyalgia because there's some kind of neurological pain associated with all the other stuff apparently. I don't really know the science of it...but I think it's helping on other levels too...it's apparently used to treat OCD which I've always had OCD tendencies but never wanted to go see a shrink about it. I feel a little less high-strung in general. Less likely to be completely overwhelmed when faced with too many things to do or too many options to choose from. It's kind of nice. My dosage ramps up on Monday from 25mg to 50mg...hopefully that means I'll become even less high-strung. I think in the past I've resisted the idea of medicating myself because I was afraid I would loose part of who I am, but so far I just feel more like myself...I've been missing myself lately, so that's pretty cool.

It's sunny out today. This random thought brought to you by Amanda.

My heel is feeling MUCH better. The more consistent I am about wearing my orthotics (which means I had to get new black dress shoes I could fit them into for work and I needed new black dress shoes anyways) and remembering to stretch out my calf/foot the better I do. See, that's why doctors visits are a last resort - why should I pay a $20 co-pay to have a doctor tell me to do what WebMD can tell me to do for free? :)

You know what I love about the place I work? Things are really laid back around here and even the managers have a great sense of humor. Here's an illustration. About 3 weeks ago our director of engineering put up a small sign outside his door that said "Have you hugged your manager today?" That caused me to smile but what really made me laugh was last week when someone took paper, tape and a marker to amend the sign to read "Have you kicked your manager's ass today?" When I asked him if he had noticed the changes that were made he just laughed and said no one has fessed up to being the culprit. The sign is still there, in all its amended glory, just outside his office.

I am getting a hair cut this evening after work. I'm not sure - but I think instead of just getting a trim I may go for a departure from the hair cut I have had for the last 6 years. It might be time for a change. I might even go back to having bangs...it's just that it took so long to grow them out that it make me a bit anxious to think about it. I had thought I wanted to go with something a bit edgy. But now I'm not so sure. Maybe I'll just have her put in more layers to maximize the natural wave. That would definitely be a change since I usually blow dry it straight now. One things for sure I'm not sacrificing my overall length. It's almost back down to my waist and I like it that length.

Gas is $2.13 here - most places. So on the way home from worship practice tonight I said. "Look, it's only $2.04 there!"...What's wrong with that statement. It's ONLY $2.04? Geesh! That's exactly what THEY want us to think - $2.04 seems cheaper after it's been jacked up to $2.13. Who THEY are, I'm not sure - but I'm pretty sure it involves aliens and a government cover-up. *smiles*

I am suffering from pretty bad pain in my right heel - sometimes the pain shoots up the left side of my right foot into the ball of the foot. Yeah, that's not good. Maybe I should go see a doctor - but not until I have tried everything I can think of to try to fix it on my own. Doctors are expensive after all. I picked up some stretches and other suggestions from a web site to see if I can't heal myself. I also was anointed with oil and prayed over at church tonight. Not sure what I think about that since it's not a practice I grew up with - it just seems weird/different. I'm not sure what the purpose of it is since it doesn't seem like they expect me to be miraculously healed - the pastor said right in his prayer for God to give me wisdom to go see a doctor if I need to and for the doctor to be able to figure out what is wrong and make it better if I do end up needing to see a doctor. I know that anointing with oil is something that they did in the Bible, but I've never really studied it. Perhaps it is something I will look into.

Other than that life is going pretty well. I feel appreciated at work. I'm starting to feel understood at home - both by

_blackhawk_/Rick as well as by myself. Yes, sometimes I don't understand myself. Yes, I realize that makes it VERY unfair of me that I expect Rick to understand me. But nobody ever said life was fair. ;)

Rick works this weekend so I'll have tons of alone time - I can be introverted to my hearts content! Not sure what I'll do. Probably will spend *some* time alone at home - but I'm actually feeling a bit extroverted and up for seeing some people/hanging out. Not a TON of possibilities in this area, as most of my friends live elsewhere, but maybe I can find something to do with someone. :)