From somewhere in Iowa

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there! In a surprising turn of events, my hubby and I are on the road on the way to Manila, IA where my Stepdad, who many of you simply know as "my Dad" since he raised me from the age of about 13, grew up.  We are going to make it to my Grandmother's funeral after all. I also get to see my Mom on Mother's day, which was not expected since she lives in AZ during the colder months.

Yesterday started badly with my pain. I was desperate to feel better so I took a pain med that I hadn't taken in awhile and it absolutely floored me-so much that I actually slept in a chair for a couple hours while 4 of my in-laws were dancing away to the game "Just Dance 2" luckily, I woke up feeling pretty good and was able to show off some of my sweet dance moves...and also the not-so-sweet ones. :)  the exercise must have been just what I needed because here we are, on the road just over 1/2 way to our destination.

Another note-preparations for me to be in the car for a long time are rediculous.  Pillows, blankets, snacks for the meds, ginger ale, comfy clothes in layers, a train case full of meds, my medical id bracelet, my med id card for my bleeding disorder, and the garmin in case we need to find an emergency room. Fortunately, warm weather does me good and it will be 85 degrees tomorrow.

Ok, back to the road trip now. I'm sure the hubby would like some attention on this 7 hour drive.

-S

Not good

Well, I'm not too surprised that things went downhill again.  Being sick along with stress and my Fibro flare caused me to miss my normal strecthing and light exercise routine for too many days. Now I'm dealing with a new round of pelvic floor muscle spasms, which is the worst of the worst of the pain that I suffer from (info is in a previous post somewhere). This one hits a 9 on the pain scale and takes a few days to calm down through specific exercises.

Aside from this is the fact that my Step-Grandmother passed away this week and I won't be able to travel the 8 hours to make the funeral.  She was a fantastic woman who instantly accepted me and my sisters into her family as one of her own when I was about 14.  I love you, Grandma Reding and I hope that you are smiling down on us with Grandpa.

-S

The nightstand of a sick woman

I'm always trying to find ways to illustrate my life, without feeling like I'm sharing too much of myself,  to help others understand what life with chronic pain is like.  I woke up this morning feeling very tired, yet better than yesterday.  I took one look at my nightstand and realized that the picture shares 1,000 words. Here's a rundown...

• Ginger Ale-helps with the nausea I constantly fight (3 cans from the last 24 hours). The wrappers are from the bars that I eat at night or in the early morning to keep pain meds from hurting my stomach.
• Prescription bottles-percoset for pain, gabapentin for nerve pain. Tizanadine to help me sleep. Wrapper from an Imitrex that I had to take in the middle of the night when a migraine set in and I had to fumble around to find it.
• Other medications-Mederma to help reduce painful surgical scars, ibuprofen (that I'm not really supposed to be taking) for sinus pain from my cold, Aspercreme to help with some of the muscle pain.
• Books-I've been reading into the late hours of the night.
• The box in the background-this is where I keep all of my meds that I'm not constantly using.
• The bowl with the scarf in it- I wore the scarf when I was out shopping last week. When I got home, I felt awful and ripped it off while I laid down to rest.
• "The normal stuff"-eye makeup remover, eye cream, moisturizer, water. Notice that this stuff takes up little space comparatively.

Otherwise, my plan is to take it easy today.

-S