I had my post-op on October 6th, so a while ago now. Oh wow, time flies. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to update those of you that have been reading all of the surgery updates, school has been extremely time consuming (more on that later).
Tag Archives: chronic pain
Thumb Brace
My thumb is still having issues … Like I expected. These cramp things last for quite a while usually. For some reason, I’d never purchased a thumb brace, even though this is a fairly common problem. I have one now though!
It’s not beautiful, but it seems to be doing the trick. Writing is still painful, but much more bearable with the brace. Hopefully I can paint in it too.
The Thumb Thing
For YEARS I have had a weird thumb issue. Every now and then my thumb seems to cramp up or get tendinitis of some sort, and becomes excruciating for quite a few days. My husband is always wondering if it’s my phone, but I don’t think it is. I didn’t have texting available when I started getting these issues when I was in junior high (didn’t have a phone). I was a prolific writer, of mostly therapeutic fiction and poetry, and it’s the thumb on my right hand only. It would happen mostly after lots of writing. Now, while I definitely say it’s aggravated by my phone, it seems to happen after painting. I have no idea why. I’m going to have to ask Joleen on Monday. I’m going to attempt to splint it so that I don’t injure it more accidentally… ugh. Typing is going to be interesting for my homework.
Any ideas?
The Funk Slump
School has been requiring lots of attention. Life has been requiring lots of attention. And I have been feeling pretty awful.
This guy is goofy and I’m in pain, so I guess it works even though I didn’t stub my toe…
Short Life Update… because, Insomnia
Mom is leaving to head back to CA tomorrow… actually, today… in, like, 5 1/2 hours. And I’m not sleeping. Oops. I told her I’d make her some maps. So what do I do? Decide I can’t stand the new way that Google prints maps anymore, so I decide to make my own. Now, they turned out really well. But I’m dumb, “Yes, I feel ill… so let’s spend three plus hours making maps from screen shots and typed directions.” Oh well, she shouldn’t get lost at least 
Though I suppose their could be random construction detours that weren’t marked… you never know on road trips.
Brain ‘splode!
Don’t Worry, I’m Still Alive
I just haven’t been feeling up to doing this (blogging). Which I know means I should, but I just don’t want to. I’m three weeks post-op today! So I figured I’d mark the occasion with a small post filling you in on the last week.
My thoughts have been in a kind of dark funk lately… not things I want to write about though, which is part of why there haven’t been any posts. When my depression freaks out, it kind of takes over, and then I have a hard time doing anything at all.
The Pain of my Fibro Flares
This is the first time since starting my blog that I’ve had more than basic fibromyalgia symptoms. My fibromyalgia has been mostly under control for at least six months, but it’s kind of hard to tell with all the POTS stuff going on. Some of the symptoms between the two conditions overlap, with chronic fatigue and widespread muscle aches being the two main ones in my case. Towards the end of getting my fibro controlled, I’d been able to identify several of my triggers: injury, bad illness, exhaustion, major over exertion, severe allergy flares (if I haven’t been controlling things very well), sudden shift from warm weather to cold weather (like, from 70F to 40F, which happens in CO on a regular basis), and hurting my feet. Thankfully, many of these triggers need to be paired with others to set off a bad flare.
Crazy Life… But, Gotta Love It! Right?
Life has been crazy.
- I’m still recovering and it’s taking a LOT of energy. Though, I’m making major progress on my ear pain and have been able to reduce the pain killers.
- School. School = homework. Right now: homework = reading multiple chapters. ‘Nuff said.
- Fibromyalgia is a … unwelcome guest. I was doing so well, too. Oh well, I knew getting my hopes up that this surgery wouldn’t trigger a flare was a bad idea.
- POTS is also unwelcome, but doesn’t care that I don’t want it around. And my insomnia is flaring up too. Overall, not much fun on the Chronic side of things, and too many unwanted guests hanging around.
So much going on, so many spoons that I want to spend, so many spoons that I don’t have. I also don’t tend to post much on weekends because Dan is home. I adore Dan, and I love spending as much time with him as I possibly can while he’s home. Monday was Labor Day this time, so he was also home; and now he’s on a business trip, so I definitely was not going to be on my computer. I didn’t even turn my computer on Sunday or Monday!
The Crazy Symptoms of Pain Killers, Exhaustion, and Life
Lately, I have had some very odd symptoms. They aren’t really “new” per say, but they are very irritating.
Post-Surgery Update, My Version
Warning: Post contains some images of the surgery site, which are kind of graphic looking.
First off, I’ll start by letting you know that the doctor says everything is fine, no complications 🙂 This is good, and I’ll give more details below. I just didn’t want any of you to be anxious while reading!
Just a reminder of how the whole post-surgery recovery stuff started.
I’m going to start at the moment I wake up. I really hate waking up from anesthesia, it’s not like you’re going from dreaming to waking, but a weird and disjointed confusion. You only remember up until the anesthesia/amnesiacs take effect (provided they are administered properly). This time, I was given the amnesiac in the pre-op area. Continue reading
Finding Life's Silver Sun 