Category: Chronic Living

I want to give you the most precious gift ❤

I think this is beautiful and wanted to pass it on.
Thank you joypassiondesire.com

Mixed bag

My goal is to focus on the positive as much as possible.

Hello dear reader,

It seems everyone is as stumped about renaming this blog as I am. I honestly didn’t expect it to be so difficult! But I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

So what’s new with me? Actually, there are a couple of things.

The one I’m most excited about is that I’m going to enter a short story writing contest. I’m taking a brief course on writing short stories that has already opened my eyes to some things I had never really thought of before. Of course, dear reader, when my entry is complete I’ll be sharing it with all of you 😏.

I’m also taking a course about WordPress called “WordPress Apprentice.” There are tons of courses out there, but I’m a technotard and end up more confused after the class than I was before I watched the videos. This is the best one I’ve found. I’ve been trying to learn more about the website part of things, and just kind of winging it in the meantime. I’m certain that’s been obvious. Now you can look forward to the site improving slowly but surely from here on out.

I interviewed a possible new caregiver. I need desperately to find one. I simply can’t keep up with even basic housework these days. (Anyone looking for a job with a really great boss?) I’ll let you know how that turns out. 🤞

So there’s the exciting stuff. It obviously doesn’t take much to excite me these days 😉.

The not so exciting stuff is that I’m stuck laying in a dark room with a massive headache again. Today’s day two. Hopefully there won’t be a day three.

And last but not least, my PC doctor had me do this thing called “Cologaurd” so I could avoid the colonoscopy that I’m about three years overdue for. They mail you a kit, you put a stool sample in it, and mail it back. Easy peasy. They look for DNA markers for cancer and /or other issues. Mine came back positive. That does not mean that I have cancer. It does mean that I have to do the colonoscopy I was hoping to avoid. The procedure itself isn’t that bad. It’s the prep that sucks! They want everything sqeeky clean (not that I blame them) so I’ll get to spend all of the night before running back and forth to the bathroom. Such fun!! 🤪 I’m scheduled to have it done on the 27th. I will, of course, let you know how that turns out.

So there you have it. My goal is to focus on the positive as much as possible. Learning new things and writing both make me feel happy and productive.

Anyone who has thoughts about short story writing, how to set up a really good website, a new name for the blog, or any other thoughts… Please feel free to share them.

Until next time…

Fur Therapy

They make me laugh whether I want to or not, and that’s super important!

Hello dear reader,

Today I’d like to introduce you to Daisy and Duke. They’re a big part of being glad to live.

Daisy is a terrier mix who will be 8 in May. She weighs about 15 pounds and will quickly let you know that she’s only little on the outside! We’ve been together since she was 3 months old. I’ve had her certified as a service dog. She let’s me know when something’s coming so I can get to a safe place. For example, my neck and shoulders going into spasms that come with a blinding headache is easier to deal with at home than while I’m driving or in the store. When she tells me it’s coming I usually have about an hour to try to get somewhere safe. When I’m down, whether it’s for hours, days, or weeks, she stays with me. When I get up to use the bathroom, she goes outside, grabs a bite of food, and gets back in bed when I do, sometimes still chewing!

She may get up when I’m sleeping, I don’t know. But she’s always there when I wake up.

Duke is a 5 1/2 year old shepherd/healer mix that we adopted when he was 9 months old. He had a really rough start. He was badly abused and starved. He was terrified of people. We had him for almost 3 months before he started wagging his tail.

He’s still cautious about meeting new people, and he’s become quite protective. He loves to play and nothing makes him happier than being told he’s a “good boy.” He’s a very sweet, loving, and well-behaved dog.
Duke is really Tim’s dog. He goes to work with him when weather and circumstances allow. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t sit beside me getting petted all day if I’d let him.

So there’s the fur therapists. They make me laugh whether I want to or not, and that’s super important!

Until next time…

Do-overs

Living and enjoying it, takes some creativity. I’ve come up with a few tricks, which help to keep pity-parties to a minimum.

Hello dear reader,

While melt-downs are definitely a part of living with chronic illness/pain, they aren’t what I want this blog to be about. The point to writing this is to try to find positive ways of handling this life. So if you’ll give me a do-over, I’d like to try this again.

Living and enjoying it, takes some creativity. I’ve come up with a few tricks, which help to keep pity-parties to a minimum. I’m hoping I’ll learn some tricks from you as well.

What relaxes you? Cleaning relaxes me. I’m really anal about my house being clean, or so I’ve been told. It just stresses me out when it’s dirty. So cleaning helps. There are a lot of times I can’t keep up with it, but it sure feels good when I can! Is that weird? probably. But whatever works, right?

Working on crafty stuff relaxes me about nine months out of the year. October through December feels like a mad dash to get things finished on time. Here are a few things I’ve made:

Those are things I’ve made as gifts for people. As long as it isn’t the crazy Christmas months, making things like these relax me.

Before I finish this up for today, I really want to thank you for your understanding and compassion when the dark side was showing. Thank you for all of the well-wishes I received.

Until next time…

After the party

Nobody likes them, but everyone has them. The important part is what to do after the pity-party.

Hello dear reader,

So yesterday I threw a pity-party. I didn’t plan it very well. There were no cutsie little sandwiches or fruity punch. Hell, I didn’t even dust! It doesn’t happen often, but when it’s one thing after another after another after – you get the idea – the explosion becomes inevitable. Nobody likes them, but everyone has them. The important part is what to do after the pity-party.

Is everything all better now? Not even close! Everything that hurt yesterday, still hurts today and I could add to the list.

But today I’m being compassionate and understanding. I think people are compassionate for the most part. They’re pretty understanding too. But boy are we hard on ourselves! If anyone else talked to me the way that I talk to me, I’d probably slap them. But not only do I listen to it, I start to believe it.

I said this blog was going to be about finding ways to have a life with chronic pain and illness. Personally, I think that needs to start by treating ourselves with compassion and love. I’m still in bed today, don’t have a lot of choice in that. But I’m not beating myself up about it. I’m not letting that ugliness that lives somewhere deep inside me (Am I the only one who has that?) tell me that I’m lazy or useless. I do have a choice in that.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. We can all learn from each other.

Until next time…

Background

I’ll be blunt about things. There isn’t enough sugar to coat this mess.

Background

Hello Dear Reader,
It’s been a long time. I’m starting my blog again with a new name and a different perspective. I live with constant pain. The myriad of things that cause my pain are explained in the “About Me” page.
A couple years ago, I had been told I was terminal, had about a year left (from the COPD). After going through the nightmare of telling the people in my life, I was told it had been a mistake. I do have COPD, but it’s not nearly as advanced as they originally thought.
Everyone was very glad to hear that news, of course. Everyone, that was, except me. The last post I wrote was in October of 2016. You can read the post for yourself if you’d like, just click here…Trying to Live The Reader’s Digest” version is that I had been relieved to have an end in sight to the pain and it had been taken from me.
Sometimes I’m so thankful to be here and to have the life I do. I have a truly incredible husband. He told me many years ago that it was his mission to make sure I laughed every day, and he does. I have children and grandchildren that I love dearly, and the best friends anyone could ever wish for. I have a couple of dogs that are a never-ending source of love and entertainment. I live up in the Rocky mountains and the beauty around me still takes my breath away. I have everything anyone could ever want.
I also have the nightmare of never-ending pain. Sometimes I can push through it and actually accomplish things. Sometimes I can’t lift my head for days at a time. Sometimes I can’t get out of bed for weeks at a time.
So I’m starting a new blog called Chronic Living. The chronic pain isn’t going anywhere, but I don’t have to let it define my life.
Why blog about it? There are millions of other people in the same situation I’m in or worse. Maybe putting it out there, the good and the bad, the beauty and ugliness about it, the constant struggle to live, I might be able to help someone through a day. I might open their eyes to something they hadn’t seen before. All the people struggling with this situation also have people who love them and want to help them. Maybe they can get a little bit closer to understanding, or maybe feel a little less helpless.
I can’t make any promises about what this blog will do. I can, and do promise that I will give you complete honesty. I’ll be blunt about things. There isn’t enough sugar to coat this mess. I promise I’ll respect and try my best to answer any questions you ask. I’ll be open-minded and try to learn from you. I tend to go off on tangents and might follow a post about depression with one bout how to crochet a baby blanket.
I hope you’ll come along on this journey with me. Don’t know for sure where we’re going or how we’ll get there, but we can figure it out together.
Until next time…

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