A good friend who I don’t speak with NEARLY often enough messaged me with sympathy today on our run of bad luck. I answered her:
“I think all of the shit is just now sinking in. When the worst happened (the car, my computer) we were just scrambling to get Andy to college. Now that a week’s gone by (and I’m in even MORE shingles pain) everything seems much darker. It will pass, we know it will. Now to shop for a used car…”
LIFE
We’re just keeping an even keel, trying not to let the two week crap storm hang over our heads, trying to be pro-active and forward looking. It’s helpful that it’s almost September, a time of new beginnings, because it feels like a good time to turn a page.
And, seriously, what we’ve lost is just STUFF. Yes, some very big and expensive stuff, but it’s stuff. The kids are great, Gerry’s here, and I’m fine (just in pain, but so is Gerry ALL the time, and misery loves company!)
COMPUTER
I am fortunate to have a computer immediately available (I adore my wonderful, brilliant husband who drags computers home like stray cats and fixes them up!), and Carbonite is paying for itself (although the recovery is taking FOR EVER – but I can see that it’s happening – so I’m lucky!) I don’t think I’ll lose many files, and every few months I backup on my hard drive in the basement, so nothing important is lost. It’s just in limbo right now until I get the recovery re-installed.
Having said that, functioning this week is very difficult because I’m used to my email being setup as I like it (with all of my many folders and past emails arranged just ‘so’) and I want my browser like it used to be (with my shortcuts and bookmarks)
I need to wait for the recovery to finish to see if I’m able to recover those small preference things that make such a difference to a semi geek like me. I’m hopeful.
HEALTH
The shingles pain continues. I actually went to see a GI doc today because I was convinced that SOMETHING terrible is going on, but apparently the nerve pain from shingles can masquerade as some severe internal issues. So this awful pain continues.
The doc prescribed Lyrica. When I went to pick it up (after the Dentist, doing all of my errands on my bike because – no car!) the pharmacist said the insurance company wouldn’t fill it until I tried Gabapentine, which I couldn’t have because I didn’t have a prescription for it.
I explained I’d used Gabapentine for Fibromyalgia 4 years ago, and it really didn’t do anything for me. The upshot was nothing could be done, so I’m back to OTC pain meds. My GP prescribed a narcotic (a strain of hydrocodone) but I really hate taking it as it upsets my stomach.
Funny, you never see Nurse Jackie chugging Milk of Magnesia because all that hydro’s given her rock hard constipation.
So this is me moaning about my health again. Someone said that once about me on a blog, and it’s stuck with me. I laugh about it some days, and other days I feel like a real whiner.
But the truth is, this pain is real and hurts like h@ll. Maybe someone can benefit from my story (get the vaccine!) and maybe I can benefit from some words of wisdom!
The most helpful things I’ve heard so far are:
- Epsom Salt Baths; I’m not a huge ‘bather’, but the Epsom Salts are one of the few things that really take the pain away. I’m going to take a nice, long bath before I see my acupuncturist tomorrow. THANK YOU DEBORAH R!
- Ice Packs: They really, really help with the pain. I have a tank top that I wear under a huge Tshirt, and I use safety pins to make little ‘pockets’ between the two garments where I can slip the packs so I don’t have to hold them in place.
- Acetaminophen: It works. (Paracetamol for my UK friends…) Believe me, I WISH I could take the ‘fun drugs’ – but the pain of being backed up, the nausea, it’s just not worth it to me. So I’ve rediscovered the old family favorite, and it works. I don’t take a lot, I discussed with the doc today, and I’m hopeful that in the next week the Lyraca will be approved by my insurance so I can see if THAT works better.
- Movement Hurts: I know this sounds silly, but I tend to define a sickness on whether it is made better with movement, or made worse. Fibro tends to get better if I can get out and bike, or do yoga, or stretch and swim. This shingle thing, on the other hand, just hurts more when I move.
I knew shingles was bad, and after Gerry’s stem cell transplant I was an eagle eye for any symptoms on him (and actually caught them once very early on, he got medication immediately and had no pain – yay!)
CAR
We’re still wrapping our heads around the car. At this point I don’t think it will be found, so it looks as though we’ll be in the market for a new (used) car. We liked the Hyndai, it had good sight lines, drove nicely, could fit a LOT inside and got decent gas milage. I know if Gerry had his druthers he’d get a VW, and if I ruled the world I’d get a Subaru, but the truth is, we’ll just be getting what we can afford. Heaven help us. If anyone has a lead on a good, small, fuel efficient hatchback or station wagon in MN, let us know!
PHONE
I miss my phone quite a bit, mostly I miss the last few photos I took on it (pics of Andy which I hadn’t yet downloaded) But it’s just a phone. We bought it used (I jailbroke it) and this is when being cheap makes us happy. All of our phones, computers, ipads, etc., are bought as refurbs, used, or we do the refurbing/jailbreaking ourselves. So I’ll be looking for a new (used) iphone because I LOVE the interface, and until I get it I know I’ll feel a bit as though I’ve lost a finger.
In the mean time I have Max’s old cast of Samsung, with my sim card in it so I can make and receive calls. But – and I’m serious – I cannot figure out how to use this thing.
I will continue to keep you on my prayer list. Your attitude is amazing with all you are dealing with! Very far from bring a whiner. I so appreciate reading about your struggles with the fibro. My daughter was just diagnosed yesterday with it. I am going to share your posts with her so she knows there is hope. Blessings!
Tell your daughter that there’s definitely hope – and to try to stay as active as she can! It really does diminish the pain like no drug can!
I have heard the pain after the external shingles disappears is worse! I think I will get the vaccine since I had chicken pox as a kid and occasionally get tingly phantom pain. I do not want to go through that!
I hope everything gets sorted out soon – maybe it was better that you had Andy going to college to distract you for a little bit. I hope she’s doing well too!
Keeping your family in my thoughts as Andy makes this transition and you all recover. My husband (a doc) sometimes prescribes narcotic pain patches for shingles pain, depending on how big an area the shingles is active. You can get the benefit of the narcotic with less systemic side effects. A good friend of mine had terrible side/flank pain and it helped a lot.
Lyrica can be wonderful. My husband takes it for his back from time to time. I take it every day for my spinal stenosis and I hardly ever feel even a twinge. I hope that you can get it soon and give it a spin.
Unless you are stinking rich, every car is a compromise. As long as it meets your requirements, then that’s the car for you.
Tony
Annie,
I take a lot of hydrocodone for small fiber neuropathy and I take one dose of OTC stool softener (docusate sodium) at night and that keeps me moving I take two if it’s really bad and it helps tremendously.
I hope you feel better very, very soon.
XX
I remember the cruel comment someone wrote about discussion of your health. That person also said, America had the best health-care in the world at a time when you had no health care at all.
She was (and probably still) is an idiot.
We,your faithful readers want to read whatever you want to share about you, fibro, your family, your teaching, patterns and wonderful yarn. Lots of us have serious health problems and the rest have family or friends going through stuff.