Time to catch up---This is a long one folks!
Wednesday, Nov 8th we headed down the road for Valentine, NE. Dan's Dad was having an auction as he was moving into town.
Our trip over was going fine until we hit Ft. Robinson where the cruise control suddenly stopped working and the speedometer started spinning around like it was possessed. No, big deal just a little irritating and something that we would eventually need to get looked at. We stopped in Chadron for lunch (our usual 1/2 way point thing to do). Much to our surprise this horrible noise came from under the truck when Dan pulled out from getting our sandwiches. We thought hmmm, wonder what that was. It stopped so we headed on toward the town park where we were going to eat. As we got closer to the park the truck started jerking and bucking and he would intermittantly loose the brakes. So, we looked at each other and Dan said, Let's just head for the Ford Dealer.
Three hours later and about 100.00 bucks we were back on the road and everything was working great. But, that did get is into Valentine much later than what we wanted to be, but oh well, at least we made it!
We stayed at a motel in Valentine so I could try and have an area to go to for quiet and rest periods if needed. I did really well on Thursday with packing up boxes and hauling them up the basement stairs, something I'm not supposed to do but we were short on time and help, so we all had to do what we could do. As usual when climbing stairs, especially with carrying boxes I lost my wind and would need to catch my breath before the next trip. But, I had no chest pain at all that day. Usually after too many stairs or carrying too much I get chest pain and have to stop everything to get it to stop, but not so on Thursday.
Friday I was moving a little slower, but thought I was doing good to be up and out by 8am my time. Three days in a row, quite unheard of for me. But, I could feel myself slowly loosing my pep and the fatigue began to creep in.
A huge blessing to Dan and I was the hot tub. Every single night we stayed there we sat in the hot tub for 10-15 minutes everynight. It really helped with sore muscles and the sore muscles under those muscles.
Saturday was the day of the sale and Dan wanted to get there really early to finish up sorting things and putting things out on tables. So, I got up with Dan, and dropped him off at his Dad's and I went back to the motel and slept for another couple of hours. That morning I began to really feel the fatigue and other symptoms creeping up on me. Just like before I started taking my aldomet I was starting to have difficulty standing in place, my blood pressure was dropping again just like it use to. Sale day also proved to be cold and windy. Two things that I don't do well in. I ventured out of the house a few times, but for the most part I was forced to stay in the house, sitting, again.
Sunday morning I was wiped out, no blood pressure, my heart rate was high and my fatigue was back. I felt like I had a cinder block tied to each of my limbs. So, Dan headed out to his Dad's to load somethings up to move to his new place in town. I really needed that down time, after getting ready, packing, and eating breakfast I found myself dragging so took a nap. Dan called at noon to tell me that they had just gotten the two trailers loaded and there was no way we were going to be able to head home today. On their way through town to Bob's new place, Dan stopped and picked me up and I was back in the moving business again. I unloaded things for about an hour, but going up and down the basement stairs pretty much trashed my heart rate and blood pressure in no time. It was so disappointing to feel myself going down hill with so much left to do. I was so light headed and off balance - It's been several months since I had felt that bad.
Monday morning we headed back home to Wyoming after saying good-bye to Nancy, Jim, Bob and Ginny. Dan was catching a cold and my symptoms continued to get worse. We had to stop at Fort Robinson and sleep as Dan couldn't stay awake and he was starting to feel worse.
We made it home and I think I slept off and on almost the whole way. I was just so tired. We stopped on our way through town and picked up Max from his vet and Ozzie from his vet. (Yes, the cats go to one vet and the dog goes to another vet...) Max, who is supposed to be at death's door, looked awesome! The girls at the vets played with him and he had a ball. His fur looked great and he was happy to see us. Ozzie, of course, always does well.
We unloaded the truck and Dan and I both crashed. Dan was full blown sick with a high fever and chills and I was in the middle of a full-blown flare up. I felt like I wasn't even taking my meds.
Tuesday we took Dan to the doctor as he couldn't stop vomiting. He was officially diagnosed with gastroenteritis. He has a nasty cough as well and has a prescription for antiobiotics to fill if it goes into his lungs.
Well, today is Sunday and it has been a long miserable week for both of us. Dan is spending less time in the bathroom and is taking more cough medicine. He is up for longer periods of time and we did make it to Sunday School, AM Church, Christmas Cantata Practice and PM Service. (Neither one of us made it to church on Wednesday night).
I'm slowly getting over this flare up. I've decided that this little flare up was a good reminder to me of how much better my quality of life is with my new medicines that I started back in March. This week my flare up had my couch bound again. I went and taught a 1/2 hour class on Tuesday and it was all that I could do to drive home. I was back to morning napping, afternoon napping and evening resting. Cooking was not an option and sitting up in a chair, painful. I couldn't stand in place at all. Showering was exhausting, and eating/digesting food was just plain miserable. My heart was back to racing for no reason and that nagging daily chest pain was back.
So, we did learn that while my meds have improved my quality of life I can still over-do-it with too much physical activity, too much stress, and not enough rest periods. The meds can be over-ridden!
So, the answer that I've been struggling with for these last few months is that while I am much better on my new med, I'm not cured. But, my quality of life is extremely liveable. On my meds I get to do things, not everything that I use to do, but I am off of the couch.
On my meds I am able to spend 3-4 hours in town and safely drive home. Off my meds just getting ready to go to town (getting dressed, make-up, hair, etc) is exhausting and one activity in town is already too much and driving home is not safe.
On my meds I am able to take a rest period in the afternoons/evenings without needing 3-4 hours of extra sleep during the day.
On my meds I can shop AND stand in line to buy what I shopped for. Off of my meds I cannot shop let alone stand in line to buy an item.
On my meds I can sit up in a chair and have the brains to type on my blog. Off of my meds, I can't sit up in a chair to type and my brain is foggy and feels like I'm stuck in wet cement.
It's also important to note that while on my meds I may be able to do all of the above, but it is also important to note that I still am unable to do 6 hour days back to back. I've built in days where I don't have to go anywhere to rest up from the previous busier day.
On days where I do have planned activities I limit how many activities I do, so that I can feel good and enjoy what I'm doing and don't have to worry about how I am going to drive home.
If I'm not feeling so good, I call and reschedule appointments for later in the week.
So, I make a lot of adjustments to have the quality of life that I do have on my new meds. Time and again I have proven, that even on the meds, if I don't take care of myself, and balance my activities with rest, I will end up back on the couch.
Why did I go into all of this? Maybe to prove to myself that I have developed a lot of the tricks to maintain some form of normalcy in my life. That even though I do have a chronic illness, it doesn't have to control me. With the help of my new drug and balancing what life throws at me, I am in control, not my disease!
I laugh at myself as I'm just getting over a solid week of nearly living from couch to bed...
One must also have a great sense of humor to live like this!