Well

I got the swimsuit yesterday (right after getting my medicine, which had to go to a different pharmacy due to the unavailability of my small independent pharmacy to get that low dosage of Lyrica from the distributor--apparently it's getting ready to go generic and supplies are low, but Kroger has some stockpiled in their warehouses) and driving home in a torrential downpour.  I sat in the car for about 20 minutes while it rained, then it finally broke a bit and I dashed to get the package (which was thankfully plastic, much as I hate the stuff), and then went over to pick a friend up from another friend's and have dinner with them.

So I didn't get to try on the suit until almost 11 pm when we got back.  It was, to put it mildly, interesting.  It does technically fit.  I normally wear a 3X in clothing, or in American sizing, 26-28.  I went for 4X and 28-30 thinking I probably needed some wiggle room.

One, it's from a Chinese company, and apparently, they don't consider that women that size have large breasts.  I had to squeeze my bosom into rather small cups (my bra size is a 48DD).  This was definitely a B cup.  Two, while the bottoms did just fit, the top bunches a bit under my breasts and has to be pulled down.  Plus it's really hard to get into.  But...I can bend over and move fine in it, and it may stretch a bit over time.  So for now, I'll hang onto it.

On the other hand, it occurred to me that I may still have the bright pink swimsuit.  I'm going to check the tubs in my storage unit just to be sure.  It fits better, I think, and even if I keep the other, it wouldn't be bad to have two suits because chlorine does a number on them.

The aquatherapy is supposed to be twice a week for 8-10 weeks at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital.  They have a 5-foot deep pool to do exercises in.  I'm trying to get my boss to adjust my schedule once I've gone to my initial visit so I don't miss work or have to take personal time off.

Dr Abbas also wrote a referral for cognitive behavioural therapy with a psychologist.  According to him, aquatherapy and CBT together reduce fibromyalgia pain about 50%.   That, along with the Lyrica, will hopefully help with the pain.  The Lyrica pills are tiny (they're just 25 mg, the lowest dose they make).   So that'll probably be once a week, so three appointments a week, hopefully, the latest they can get me in.

I'm at work right now, in the break room. I don't clock in for another 15 minutes (and I'm blogging on my phone hotspot, not the hospital's network).  I came in at 7:30 to see how easy it would be to adjust my schedule.  It wasn't too bad.  My main problem is when it gets dark in the morning in the fall and winter.

I'm in the break room, and I stopped by my office and got my fan from my desk, so I'm sitting here with it on.  I'm just always so hot after walking through UK to get here, especially as muggy as it's been here lately.

We're having an employee appreciation pizza party, with door prizes and such.  There was going to be a talent show, but I think that was cancelled.  Anyway, after noon there are no surgeries or anyone in clinic, and we'll shut down.  I may be able to go home early today.  I have a lot of phone calls to make today, especially on offsite imaging requests, scheduling ultrasounds and MRIs.  I'm about a month out on my surgery authorizations (yay!)

Okay, I guess I should pack up and get ready to clock in.  Have a great day!

Being proactive (finally)

When I was about 25 or 26 I was diagnosed by a specialist they brought in at UK's Student Health with fibromyalgia. At the time there were doctors who didn't believe it even existed, and there wasn't much to do about it, except try to stay active to stave off the chronic pain. There's no blood test, and at the time there wasn't much they could do medication-wise. And so I've lived for decades with a lot of pain that limited my activity levels. I finally decided a lot had probably changed since 26 or 27 years ago and it was worth going to a rheumatologist to see if anything can be done. So I went this morning and turns out that I'm doing a lot of things right already. I use my CPAP religiously. I'm on medication that helps with anxiety and depression. I used to do yoga but can't get up from the floor anymore, but he suggested doing chair yoga or modified poses. He also prescribed 8 to 10 weeks aquatherapy and some cognitive-behavioural therapy, both of which studies show reduce pain 50% together with no other treatment. He also put me on a very small dose of a medication, the lowest available given the other meds I'm on, but my pharmacy didn't have it, or Kroger on Tates Creek either. My pharmacy tracked down one that had it (apparently the low dose is not popular). But since it's a controlled substance (but not an opioid) the Kroger pharmacy has to request a new prescription from the doctor. So I can pick it up tomorrow. I'm really hoping all this will help and I can be more active.
Also, when they weighed me I had a crossbody purse on with my phone, etc. in it, and it was already lower than I expected. So I've lost about 8-10 lbs in the last couple of weeks without trying. That was nice.

When I moved away from the apartment, which had a pool that I rarely got in due to having a bright fuschia swimsuit that made me feel like a giant pink blobbie, I got rid of the suit and gave it to Goodwill. So today I ordered a new suit for the aquatherapy. Here's hoping it fits fine and makes me feel less conspicuous than the old one did. I've attached a photo on a model. 
Meanwhile, I have both initial appointments made and I've emailed my boss about tweaking my schedule when I know more about how often I need to go to therapy and when. 

Alright, time for bed. Good night. 

x

TGIF

I'm so glad it's Friday. I already have a request with friends to sleep in tomorrow barring any urgent matters coming up. Having three positions in the hospital right now is kicking my butt (I'm subbing for an ill co-worker, so I work as a librarian, a revenue cycle data entry clerk, and now I'm scheduling.) I've been doing it for about 3-4 weeks. Next week promises to be super-busy. It's nice to demonstrate that I can be flexible and darn near indispensable, of course. But I feel like I'm constantly juggling with several balls in the air at once.

This morning I was lying in bed after my alarm went off. Even though I'd slept from 11 pm to 7 am without waking up once, I felt drained. But not sick. And I so desperately wanted to call in, take a day to just rest. The clock was ticking away (Friday I'm supposed to be there at 7:30 am). And then I realised that if I did call in and take a mental health day (which isn't something I would normally even consider), I'd have to call three different bosses, and I decided it was just easier to get up, get a shower, and hope I felt less achy and tired by the time I got there. It took less time to do that than call in. I got to work and did feel better. But I definitely plan on trying to get some rest this weekend. I think I was picking up on the rain coming in and the change of temperature, and that's why I was aching all over (I don't normally dwell on it, but I do have fibromyalgia, and that can make you feel like you've been hit by a truck when the weather changes quickly.)

Anyway, I think I'm going to take a little ibuprofen, and then I'm going to try some reading. Good night.

I would blog something meaningful tonight

But my plantar fasciitis, tendonitis, fibromyalgia, IBS, and sinuses are all having a flareup right now, most likely because we had a huge weather front come through earlier and the temperature has plummeted. My tendons have been popping in my knees and ankles, and the joints are throbbing now. I ache all over. I keep running to the bathroom, and I'm becoming decidedly snotty. In other words, I'm falling apart. I think it's time to take some ibuprofen and just head on back to bed (I took a two-hour nap right after getting home, then talked on the phone for an hour and a half, now it's back to bed. About the most useful thing I've done is feed the fish.)

Anyway, sorry for the lack of decent post. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow. Good night.

What few stances I tried were hard on my knees

I do better with yoga. But it's good news to see that tai chi can be useful in treating fibromyalgia....

Tai Chi Reported to Ease Fibromyalgia

The ancient Chinese practice of tai chi may be effective as a therapy for fibromyalgia, according to a study published on Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of tai chi, patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later.

I'm at home today

I feel crappy, hurting all over from head to toe deep in the muscles, so I called into work and went back to bed for awhile.

I know what it is. For about twenty years I have had fibromyalgia, and it although it's always present in one degree or another, it truly gets bad when there is an extreme temperature drop such as we had this weekend (it's about 20 degrees cooler now). That's when I feel like I've been hit with a truck and am so tired.

I don't talk about it much because when I first was diagnosed, I did a lot, and my friends made much mock of me. One even called it 'fibrous migraines'. It doesn't help that not all of the medical community recognises it as a legitimate syndrome, and no one really knows the cause, although strides have been made in research and there are new pharmaceutical treatments now. Also, I always seemed worse when I focussed on it too much or talked to other people with it, because I became more self-aware of my pain and probably somatosised as well.

My fibromyalgia is mostly tolerable. I haven't sought out medical help in years, because at the time there was nothing to do except maybe stay as active as possible or take anti-depressants, which work for some people. It's one of the reasons I got into yoga, and it helped a lot, although I must admit I haven't done it in awhile.

But then I have days like today, and I feel awful, and I think maybe I should try one of the new drugs, although I'm loathe to add more to my regimen (I already take eight pills a day). I have to admit, though, that like my carpal tunnel, I tend to ignore the chronic pain and not really realise how in impacts me unless I happen to be pain free, which is virtually never. When I had my carpal tunnel surgery it was like someone lifted a veil and I suddenly wasn't numb, wasn't having pain in my hands, and could feel things again. I'd like to do that with the fibromyalgia. I think in turn I could be more active and it would set up a cycle that would be better. Plus there is are cognitive and other issues that come into play with the disorder. So I may ask Dr Nesbitt about it at our next appointment.

In the meantime today I'm resting, just trying to get up and do a little. I've very rarely missed work due to my fibromyalgia; there are people out there so debilitated that they can't work at all, so I'm grateful that I can still be okay to make a living. But I have to admit, as I type this, that even my fingers hurt and while I should take advantage of a free day to do something around the house or whatever, I simply don't feel up to it. I might be able to watch that 'Doctor Who' premiere and the second episode later. But for now, I really just want to go back to bed. Once my body gets used to the weather change, I'll feel better, really. But for now, I feel like someone has pulled me one direction and then another, and another, until I almost break like a rubber band.

I've never noticed it

Stinky diabetes drug turns off patients: Medication's fishy smell may explain why many stop taking it, doctors say

The drug is metformin, also known as Glucophage and an ingredient in several combination drugs as well (I take it as Janumet, a combination of metformin and Januvia).

Of course, I don't have an extremely keen sense of smell. But there is one pill I really have trouble taking because of not just the smell of the medication itself, but how it makes me smell--guaifenesin, a drug that is used as an expectorant in such meds as Mucinex (and which was tried, at least, for fibromyalgia back in the day).

Anyway, there's this smell it has that invades all the mucous membranes of my body, and I really find it unpleasant. It also changes the smell and colour of urine. So when I take it (usually for a sinus infection) I try to keep it to a minimum. Back when my fibromyalgia pain was worse, I considered taking it regularly, but couldn't get past the smell. I'm glad I don't smell a fishy odour with metformin, though.

Sorry about being incommunicado

Monday I spent most of the day in bed with a serious fibromyalgia flare up. The temperature had risen 30 degrees suddenly and the weather was cloudy, and I ached all over terribly and felt awful. I'm not complaining, though; I've had it for years and it only hits me at times like that--sudden temperature changes. I've missed work only about four times in nearly 13 years due to it; a lot of people are completely disabled by it. As long as I remain fairly active, the pain remains chronic but low-key. Tuesday I managed to get in to work despite a plunge in temperature; once my body had adjusted, the change was easier to deal with.

Yesterday I brought home my holiday present to myself, an external hard drive purchased so that I can move from Windows XP to Windows 7 (you can apparently not just upgrade, but have to do a clean install, unlike going from Vista to Windows 7). It was on backorder for several days and only arrived then. I've got things backed up but I'm going to wait until Saturday to attempt the procedure because by then I'll have the notes from the game transcribed and more time to deal with any issues as they arise. Also, I was pretty tired from doing a 12-hour day including truck. We got new uniforms; they're bright blue and black, but clingy, so I haven't decided how I like the change. Definitely I'm glad to pitch the maroon, though.

Tonight I came home from work and went straight to finding a present for my mother for the holiday. I knew what I wanted. It won't make it there in time for Christmas, but it should come a couple days after. It really was perfect though, and it was 73% off from the original price, something I couldn't guarantee would remain in effect if I'd wanted to get it for Mother's Day, etc. I think she'll really enjoy it. I did ship it directly to her. I got it through Amazon (I also found pants that might work for the gas station there, but I'm holding off on them until the Great Shopping Trip of 2009 this Saturday, when I'll troll through Hamburg's various shops the whole day.

Tonight I got a request for another PaperbackSwap book, so I've just printed the wrapper for it and am going to take it in, bubble envelope and all, and mail it from work tomorrow (they let us pay the postage for personal items and get a metered sticker; if I used stamps I'd have to mail it from the post office, I think, or at least some of them that are over a certain weight). I've got two coming to me, and one is a bit overdue, no doubt due to holiday shipping.

I got my bonus today at the gas station. Gross it was almost as much as what I netted for my regular pay. This next week will have fewer hours on it because I'm off Saturday for my hunting, um, shopping.

The thing with the double charge worked out okay. The store worked from their end, the bank worked from theirs, and I wound up with $0.74 in my account, then got paid the next morning, so it worked out well. My pay from the hospital should have hit the account already, too, tonight, so I've got a healthy balance, even with the purchase of my mom's gift.

The other day I went over to a friend's house and made him potato and cheese (separate, not together) latkes for Chanukah. They were great, we ate, and were stuffed. Although there was a rocky moment at one point, it was a great evening. We spent a lot of time visiting and watched five episodes of the 'Sarah Jane Adventures' that he'd gotten on DVD. I would love to have a picture of the chanukiyah alight, but my camera doesn't distinguish between the flames, but puts it all into one bright ball.

Well, that's enough for now. Time to go back to bed. I have to go to the pharmacy tomorrow on the way to work. Then I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping afterwards to go out with a couple of girl friends to eat and visit; I haven't seen one since the summer, as both our cars were down. Hers is fixed now, thankfully. I don't get a chance to have girl time very often; my closest friends are men.

Good night.

Sick

I woke up with some sort of crud that gives you a sore throat, headache, coughing, copious mucous, and aches everywhere from your toes to behind your eyeballs. Even the back of my head feels swollen. I'm not running a temperature, although I feel like I am. It may just be bad sinus issues--Kentucky is notorious for it (I've heard the Indians called the Ohio Valley 'the land of death', but that may just be a folk tale), I've had trouble with it a good part of my life, and a front of storms is moving in to the area. Or it could be sinuses plus fibromyalgia, something I have but have mostly dealt with time. Still, there are days I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck, and this is one of them. I called into work and got a couple of hours' more rest, then got up to see if a shower would help (it didn't, it just made me snottier) and get some food in my stomach. I'm going back to rest some more now, I think. Ugh.