Roller Coasters....Fun or Not So Much??

Dijon and I have two daughters, who are totally opposite in personality....always have been, since they were tiny little things.  One was a very prim and proper little princess, who enjoyed playing quietly with her dolls.  The other, the younger, was a tomboy who loved all things wild and exciting!  So while my oldest gravitated toward calmer rides during our outings to theme parks, my baby girl always longed for lots of rides on the wildest of the roller coasters.   She would have LOVED the one in the picture above, and luckily for me, Dijon would have been happy to accompany her on the ride!

I'm reminded of these theme part adventures lately.....I feel like I'm on two roller coasters in my life right now.  As I've mentioned, our pup has IMHA, and it is an autoimmune illness with lots of ups and downs.  In fact, it is much like AI illnesses humans suffer from, according to my rheumatologist.  As a result of his illness and the side effects of his medications, he is often up during the night, and our sleep is spotty at best.  We visit the vet often, and I must keep an ever-watchful eye on him.

So the stress from that roller coaster adds to the "excitement" of the roller coaster that I already live on.....my fibro has been "off the charts" lately.  Imagine the fibro roller coaster as having HUGE climbs, ENORMOUS falls, and TWISTING curves.   Far from keeping symptoms under control, I am suffering a horrific flare right now.   The fatigue is back to bone-crushing levels, literally.  And the pain grows each day as well.   Keegan rides with me, breathing fire.

The main thing I do in times like this is try to give myself all the extra rest and sleep I can.  I nap as often as possible.  Some people argue against that, saying it will disrupt your night sleep.  When I am in a flare, I don't find that to be true for me.  I find that I can nap, and sleep all night as well. (But remember, everyone has to find what works for them.)

In time,  I know things will improve.  The roller coasters will smooth out...Keegan will go back to sleep, eventually... life will settle a bit.  I just need to wait this out.  And rest.

Soooo, are you a roller coaster fan??  I confess, the real ones scare me a bit!!!

See ya soon,

~~~~~Sally~~~~~

I've Missed My Blog, and Stress

Wow....its been so long since I've been here, and I've missed it.  Please forgive my absence... life in my house has been very hectic.   But I have realized that this blog helps give me a place to voice feelings, to share frustrations, and to regroup in my day to day battle with Keegan.  And it truly is a day to day battle.

So, our pup Mr. B is still very ill.  His lab work shows the meds he is on have not yet suppressed his immune system enough to stop the destruction of his red blood cells.  So the fight continues, and I am his nurse :)   I give the many meds and take him to his vet appointments.  We're hoping and praying he can beat this illness.

All this extra activity and worry means STRESS....and for those of you new to fibromyalgia, stress of any kind, whether physical or emotional, causes fibro symptoms to increase.   I fully expected a flare, and that's exactly what has happened.  So my plan to REALLY work on managing symptoms has had to take a back seat for the last couple of weeks.  Right now, my focus is giving my body the extra rest it needs to overcome the flare.

Moral of this story:  Life happens, and when life becomes very stressful and busy, it isn't always easy to keep the fibro dragon asleep.  Keegan is breathing fire right now....I can't push through and ignore the signals.  And even after all this time, I am still bad about that!

I'm making a list of some ingredients for a new daily smoothie....it'll incorporate several things I've found that seem to help me feel better.  I'm thinking if I can lump then into one drink, it'll be easier to make sure I get them all in each day.  I'm trying it tomorrow morning, and I'll let you know how it goes...hopefully, it'll taste yummy, and I'll post the recipe!

Oh, and Mr. B says hello....please say a prayer for him :)

See ya soon,

~~~~Sally~~~~~