Friday, December 12, 2014

Chronic pain entered my life about 10 years ago. It was a few months after my surgery and my doctor thought that is was due to stress, emotional turmoil that I had gone through, and my new adjustment to the lack of hormones that my body was not producing. It started with chronic headaches and within a few years my whole body hurt almost every single day. Over the past 10 years I have had many sleepless and painful nights, but last night would be in my top 10 of the worst nights I have suffered through. I try to not mention my pain often, but I have not mentioned it much the last few months because I have been doing much better. Being able to stay home this year has played a major role in helping me manage the pain. I also have cut back from 4-5 cups of coffee to just one cup a day with only a special treat of an extra cup once in a while. Maybe the bigger miracle is that I have really cut back on my Diet Coke intake. Some days I do not even drink a drop of Diet Coke and when I do drink it I have one of those small 8 oz cans. I have been feeling pretty good, but I know that I have at least 3 days or up to a week of severe pain. If I can just get through those bad days I know I can enjoy the rest of my month. It just gets so frustrating because I cannot pinpoint any trigger that sends me spiraling in pain. It hit me yesterday afternoon while I was putting the clothes away (Ooh, maybe I can blame it on the socks!) and the headache came on so fast that I thought I was going to pass out. I took something as soon as it hit, but I just continued to get worse. I was able to take my strong medicine before bed, but it only lasted about an hour and a half. I got up and got an ice pack and lathered most of my body with the stinkiest rub called Tiger Balm. I got back in bed but could not get in a position to manage the pain. I was going to lay down in our bedroom floor, but I knew Lucy would end up on top of me. I went into the living room and grabbed a blanket and laid on the rug on the hardwood floors. It was providing some relief but then Boots (our cat) started climbing on me and there is something about that Balm that she is attracted to. I have to watch her because she one time bit my hand because she could smell the balm stuff. I also thought I better get up out of the living room floor so I didn't give Jeremy a heart attack finding me sprawled out on the living room floor in the morning. I got on the couch and it helped some until Boots jumped on me on the couch and was trying to lick my neck! I finally went back to my bed and after some more tears and prayers I was able to fall asleep. I am thankful that I woke up this morning feeling so much better. After I took the kids to school I went and got a massage at one of those places at the mall. I feel kind of silly doing those at the mall, but it helped tremendously.

 I would ask that you would pray for us as we are trying to move out of this apartment. There are several things that we do not like about this apartment, but it really getting to the point that it's not just about what we don't like it's about how difficult it is for me physically to live here. One of our hang-ups on moving sooner than later is the uncertainty of Jeremy's employment next year. I mentioned before that it is very likely that he will find a job quickly, but not a guarantee. We really do not want to move not sure of what his employment looks like after this school year. We know God will provide, but we also know we need to use some common sense when purchasing a home. So please pray with us that a door will open for Jeremy in the next few months.

I am thankful that I am feeling well enough today to make a couple of batches of sugar cookies for the kids to decorate tonight. I told them we would do that tonight and I was hoping I would be able to get them done.

Head straight and eyes open :) 

Adding a gingerbread man this year