THE TRAVEL GNOME FAILED ME…. I forgive him but he still owes me.

          My inner itty bitty fibro kitty isn’t feeling very trusting right now as it seems that the travel gnome didn’t keep

up his end of the deal to keep the gout fairy entertained and away from our house. Yes, that gout fairy still has a

 rather nasty disposition and must have gotten in through one of the upstairs windows because I have been keeping

 my eye on all the downstairs windows, doors and even the fire-place. She slipped away from the travel gnome and

paid us a brief visit. Thank goodness I was only lightly napping and heard her evil chuckle as she tapped my left

foot. So engrossed was she that she never saw my supper sized gout fairy swatter coming! I knocked her half way a

cross the room and did that ever feel good! I highly recommend it to anyone that has a visit from the gout fairy. She

left in a huff and mumbling something about paybacks, to which I yelled at her as she was leaving that was just what

 she got a nice dose of  “payback” my style! I’m really, really gonna need to watch out. I still had a very sore left foot for a few

days. Not nearly as bad nor as long as before….. maybe the changes in my intake has helped to decrease the effects of the

gout flare up.

          I’ve been keeping a record of what I’ve eaten and drank before a flare up, the severity, location and

duration. Then used only my pain medications and diet to try to decrease and clear up the symptoms especially eating the

foods that are supposed to breakdown the uric acid and there by clearing up the flare up. Dark chocolate seems to

help…..no really it does help….OK and it does help you to not care at least for the time while you are sooo into savoring this

scrumptious, smooth and creamy gift from the gods of all that is so good it has to be sinful……

          Wow just had one of

those moments of looking off into space and thinking of chocolate and how it might be a cure for everything…lol…

I’m fighting the fog big time right now, but I really do need to complete this post!

          Anyway like always one flare up

of any other illness also messes with fibro too. So I got the gout to clear up but my fibro has been doing the Texas two

step all over me and shows no sign of slowing down even to a Fox Trot. Oh and of course wouldn’t you know it my

youngest son got his orders to report for preparation for deployment to south Afghanistan for a year. He will be

 spending time at three military forts to complete these preparations until he ships out in December. His first few weeks will be here so he will be able

to come home on pass sometimes. Knowing what is going on in that part of the world keeps this mom worried. I’m

proud of his commitment to serve our country but as a mom…..well you know I will worry and this is bad for fibro

as is most stress.

          My inner itty bitty fibro kitty says if we can just keep that grumpy gout fairy away, other

things will be easier to deal with as not being able to walk and get about is really, really a royal pain anywhere she

touches. I hope the gout fairy or any of her relatives aren’t bugging any of you…..but just in case keep some dark

chocolate close at hand and maybe even try some as a preventive measure and then keep your fairy swatter ready

until our paths cross again…… Lila

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG….” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITH OUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS : http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com  

LET YOUR MEMORIES BE YOUR GUIDE….

 

     When you live a life with a chronic illness that also fills you with chronic pain there will be days when no amount of pain medication will seem to help because even your skin hurts and you wish that you could live in a nudist colony for the blind. There will be days when the stress of not being able to do even the simplest things for your self ……… like when the electric can opener won’t work and you can’t get that cheap tuna can open with the manual can opener because of your decreased fine motor skills and joint pain in your hands….so you say screw the tuna and go for the peanut butter……..  and then can’t open the jar! You start to wonder if the pissed off gout fairy thinks you are the one who messed with her mornings strawberries and couscous since you end up having to eat puffed wheat {glorified cardboard} and milk…….  for dinner. You can’t focus enough to even follow the rules for “Wheel of Fortune” and sleep……..  well you don’t know it well enough for a relationship…..  more like a one night stand.

     So what do you do? I wish I could say I know the answer to make these problems disappear forever but I don’t.  Although I have found something that helps.  Just let your memories be your guide.  I’m sure most of you have heard of progressive relaxation and guided visual imagery……  I’ve taken mine a little further.  For me I don’t need anyone to guide me through the progression of muscle relaxation and breathing or to guide me through the imagery of my choosing. If you need help with that part you can check out most book stores in the self-help area or have a friend with a smooth steady voice to record the steps of relaxing your muscles from head to toe or toe to head which ever you prefer and to slow and relax your breathing. Pick one of your most pleasant memories and flesh it out with details that you can picture in your mind. Now this is where I go a step further.

     If I want to use some of my memories centered around a river or stream I use everything I have on hand to make this as real as possible.  I’ll have a CD playing sounds of the stream and woodlands {not the ones with music} and use a plug-in air freshener with pine or flower scent {what ever fits the setting and NO candles as you may fall asleep} then a small fan to help move the fragrance and replicate a slight breeze. Now you can even set things up for the beach and with an oscillating fan and a mister and ocean sounds CD make it feel like the ocean spray and breeze…….  of course don’t forget to set up a fragrance too! I have an adjustable bed with a built-in massage {you can also use one of the electric massage mats with adjustable speeds} and can set up night-time on a sail boat.  Use my ocean CD, fan and mist.  Bed set on low massage and I have put glow in the dark stars over my bed {yes with the big and little dipper!} and my bed is a four-poster and has some netting over part of the head of the bed.  All of this with the room darkened really works well to make me feel like I’m on a boat looking up at the stars! There is the thunder storms with tin roof CD and so many others that can really cover all the senses that can step up your relaxation.

     Then all you have to do is walk your way through that most pleasant time by the cool river with the sun just starting to burn off the morning mist….  watch the bugs skim across the edge of the river and the big rainbow trout suddenly breaks the surface and swallows two of the unlucky bugs. Hope he is around later when I’m fishing but now just want to lay back on the smooth flat cool rock beside the river and look up at the beautiful trees……  it’s hard to tell were the trees stop and their reflection in the river begins…..  off in the distance is the rapid tapping of a Hairy Woodpecker and the sweet calls of the Yellow-Rumped Warbler……  the air is crisp with a faint touch of redwoods and cedar……  I know soon some of the sunshine will make its way through the dense trees and it will be time to fish but until then I’ll just close my eyes and listen the birds and river……  and so on!

     OK, if nature isn’t your thing that relaxes you and say some of your best memories are of maxing out the plastic at the mall .  Then by all means record the sounds of your favorite mall, the smells of the food court and the scent of Italian leather shoes works .  Go for it! 

     If you are not able to walk your way through a scenario and don’t know anyone who could record your guided imagery for you, then there are some good ones that you can buy at most book stores or online and can then pull together the other items to cover as many senses as you can. It helps me. It’s not a cure or fix all but it might be worth trying.

     As for me…….  I think I hear my name being whispered on the soft morning air…….  hmm wait….. no….. oh yes it is cedar I smell…… yeah…..  Know where I’m going.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll go to the beach…..  maybe there will be a storm coming in off the ocean.  That can be nice too. I hope you don’t need to try this but try it out for a mini mental vacation and enjoy your self until our paths cross again………. Lila

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG….” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITH OUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com 

“One Lovely Blog Award”

It has now been well over a week since this award was given to me by Jolene. She too was given this award for her blog here at wordpress http://www.gracefulagony.wordpress.com  . If you haven’t found her blog by now please do check it out and I’m sure you will enjoy her posts as much as I do! I confess I have been more of a “lurker” than a poster on other’s blogs…..so if your stats are up but no replies are found…..lol….it most likely was me lurking again. I know you are smiling……admit it you do it too! But back to this fine award before I totally forget what I’m doing….oh yes….Jolene thank you so very much for thinking about me and my blog…..it really does mean a lot to me that someone else enjoys what I post or finds it helpful in any way. I have said this before but will say it again….I started this blog just thinking it was just for me to be me and let it all hang out…..a safe place to let it all out….good, bad and the ugly too. Then someone read….didn’t post….OK lurked….and it scared me…..could I really do this because it seems someone has been reading…..OMG!……deep breath and just go with it…..be real just like I planed and wait and see….now over the passage of some time and more have found their way here…slowly….and that’s just fine…..I have found it means more to me when I share with others and in some way give support to the rest of us and our friends and families with chronic illnesses….so yes, Jolene thank you! And to everyone else that has enjoyed, laughed {yes in the closet lol counts too….silly!} and cried and prayed along with me…..thank you!

I had to put this off for the last week or so as the gout fairy paid me a nasty visit just after Jolene gave this to me…..doesn’t it always happen this way……I thought I could still post but the heavy pain meds and fogginess don’t mix with posting in any understandable language…lol….believe me I tried….didn’t work….trust me. I’m better now.

Now comes the best part of receiving this award….. I get to spread my wings and share this award  with some of the other blogs I’ve newly found…..and yes lurked around  some…..so you might be surprised in a nice way today! Here is my list of the others that I am sharing this award with and please go and check out their blogs. I am sure you will find some new blogs to enjoy as much as I have and I have chosen a very nice mix from serious to down right funny stuff but we all have illnesses in common and a lot to share with each other in our own humble way! So bless every one of you and a special shout out to Dave….I’ve been lurking Dave and as a man having to cope with chronic illness it can’t be easy and you are not alone…..really none of us are…..NOT ANY MORE….enjoy!

1} MY CFS LIFE by hiddenlives  http://www.mycfslife.wordpress.com

2} ALMOST NORMAL by jeneli  http://www.jeneli.wordpress.com

3} a walk through the darkness of chronic pain and depression by Dave  http://www.painprime.wordpress.com

4} Walking With Peter  http://www.walkingwithpeter.wordpress.com

5} twopercentmind blog {Fibro}  http://www.twopercentmind.wordpress.com

6} bioluminescent mental shrapnel  http://www.flashfactor.wordpress.com

7} Notes Along the Path  http://www.notesalongthepath.wordpress.com

8} Shira’s Fbro Fun by Shira  http://www.myfibrofun.wordpress.com

9} FIBROGURL by Fibrogurl  http://www.fibrogurl.wordpress.com

10} Letting Myself Go by tammy renee  http://www.lettingmyselfgo.wordpress.com

11} Una Vita Bella  http://www.unavitabella.wordpress.com

12} Fibromyalgia Blog  http://www.fibro2010.wordpress.com

13} WENDY USUALLY WANDERS by Wendy  http://www.wendyusuallywanders.wordpress.com

14} ALIENS SPOTTED NEAR BEAVER CREEK  by Susan  http://beavercreekalien.com

15} Madre With RA by Madre  http://www.madrewithra.wordpress.com

About this award: As acceptance of this award the following criteria should be met:

1} Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2} Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

3}  Then list those 15 with their names/ blog names and a link to their sites.

4}  Then go to each of them at their blog and post that you have given them a special gift and post a link back to your site.

So again thank you for your blogs and don’t forget to post your award on your site….I am…or I am going to keep trying until I make it work….at one time I think I knew…..yes….I have lost it some where here in the fog and when I find my brain I will get it done before I lose it again……gentle joy until our paths cross again!…….. Lila

 

PLEASE NOTE IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG….” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITH OUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS  http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com 

JUST A BIT OF TWISTED FIBRO HUMOR……

Been there and done this and I didn’t even get a T-shirt for all my trouble either……but I did get my pain medicine approved. Yes, my inner pissed off fibro kitty has a way of expressing her needs ……and leaves little room for discussion….hehe…. it may take a while for her to make her presence known but look out once she has shown up!  And it’s a good thing too since the Gout Fairy has paid me a couple visits over the past week or so…….. and that fairy ain’t’ got no sense of humor….seems she as an inner pissed off gout kitty! I have only been able to make it to the powder room with use of two crutches since she snuck up on me while napping, not once but twice and tapped my left foot, knee and hip…… but I did find me a much bigger fairy swatter…..shouldn’t miss her next time even without my glasses on…..so I’m waiting and watching and ready for ya this time! And if I do miss hitting her, I got my pain medicine….. yep and at present I have now progressed to getting about using one crutch and less likely to trip on my oxygen tubing this way too! So, it’s OK to have an inner pissed off fibro kitty…..can work out to be a good thing……she has her place and time……even if a little twisted at times…..and if needed let her out and roar…… but I hope your inner fibro kitty that is on the prowl the most, will be the little one that lies on her back belly up to the warm sunshine next to the window purrrrrrring until our paths cross again……….. Lila

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG…..” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITHOUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS  http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com  

JUST A BIT OF TWISTED FIBRO HUMOR…..

Some  days  it  is  just  better  to  keep  a  low  profile   and  accept  comfort  where  ever  you  can  find  it…..

and  when  you  find  it …. just  go  with  it….

and  once  you  are  with  it ….. don’t  question  it….

and  for  goodness  sake  just  enjoy  it!

Well ….. at  least  that  is  what  my  inner  itty  bitty  fibro  kitty  tells  me…….

And  she  sure  looks  comfortable  to  me!

So  try  to  listen  out  for  what  your  inner  itty  bitty  fibro  kitty  tells  you  to  do  to  find  comfort…. 

until  our  paths  cross  again ……. soft  and  gentle  fibro  hugs  to  those  in  need  as  Lord  knows  times  are  rough  out  there …… Lila

 

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG…” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITH OUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE AT WORDPRESS  http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com 

 

SLIP SLIDING AWAY, SLIP SLIDING AWAY…….

When ever I hear this sound I know I am bound to slip slide away! Yes it’s the sound of water. I love the water. All kinds of water…… I love the ocean, rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, babbling brooks, creeks, waterfalls….heck even mud puddles! But the kind I don’t like are the kind I have been hearing and seeing the last week and still hearing even now as I write this post. I’m sure I should be doing something else right now…..maybe find another so far unused pot or pan and try to put it under the NEW leaking spot. It’s like a guessing game ….where will the water come from next? It’s been raining off and on for the past week and this alone has caused me great pain and sleepless nights and days. My younger son in the military is due home around midnight tonight and I sure need to be getting things ready…..but hurt too much to do anything other than sit right here and type. {got this neat little thing recently that will prop my lap top up so I can type while almost laying down!} I hate he will be coming home to this mess…..oh yeah the mess….will for a change the rain stayed outside…..for the most part…..but my pipes under the downstairs bathroom  sink broke…..sometime between my 2am trip there and my 4am trip. Nothing like walking in the dark to the bathroom in the middle of the night and step into cold water…..and find it has made its way all the way to the front door! Couldn’t fight my way through the water shooting out of the cabinet into my face when I opened the doors to see what was going on…..just like in the movies…open doors under the sink and get water in the face…..so I had to add extra tubing to my oxygen tubing and scoot down the outside steps {on my butt} at 4am and find my way to the water main shut off and back inside and try as much as I could to mop up the water until I could get help to fix the pipe. But got it done now pipe fixed and all should be great in my little corner of the world…..yeah right! Now, once again I hear the sound of water….no the sun is shining bright……the sky is a beautiful blue…..the birds are singing…..all should be right…..no, still hear water. Then a crash and I sit up and look around….nice….just great…..and I mean that very sarcastically too! A 2 foot by 3 foot section of my ceiling has just fallen in and water is now leaking all over…..my air conditioner is messing up again. No it is cooling ….thank goodness! But I can only guess that the condensation pipe has gotten clogged and water had been backing up and since I rarely go into that upstairs bedroom where the unit is located I didn’t know it until it had enough backed up water to break through the ceiling down stairs. Not the first time this has happened but, in the past I knew something was wrong because the AC would freeze over and stop working but it got fixed right and now it doesn’t do that…..and I thought that was a good thing……until now that is…..and it’s the weekend too….OK maintenance has just stopped by to look and say…..yep, it sure does look like a real problem alright! Duh….you think? Pulled down the section that was hanging by a thread. They hope to get someone out here fast! In the mean time I just may want to invest in a dingy and a paddle….just as back up… It is said that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger….why “They” say that, I don’t know…..no more than I know who “They” are. All I do know is that what doesn’t make me crazy leaves me soundly sane. So much so….that I wish I lived in the time of the old west…..where if everything were going wrong…..well, you just got on your horse…..rode into town….stopped at the saloon…..pushed open the double swinging doors and bellied up to the bar….slammed down your fist and ordered a double of old rock gut whiskey and washed your problems down….then maybe settle down for a round or two of poker……now if they only had indoor plumbing and air conditioning I think I could live …..oh…..never mind….if they had all of that I’d be right back where I started from now wouldn’t I? Maybe I should go with the dingy and paddle….well perfect timing the repair man said the leak is fixed and the water should stop dripping soon and on Monday they will be back to rip out my ceiling and go from there to see what the next course of action will be! Great just great…..sounds like fun…..all while in the middle of a nice big fat flare up! OK ….bar keep pour me another double! I think I’m going to be soundly sane and am going to need that double straight up! ……and keep ‘em coming until our paths cross again…………….. Lila

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG….” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITH OUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS   http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com 

Mixed Bag…..

This post may just ramble on but at this point I really just don’t care. More than just my same old same old fibro stuff ……but fibro does affect everything else…..so this will be a mixed bag or baggage more like it I guess. It’s just that I feel so heart-sick, tired and run down. I feel so lost and hopeless but at the same time, I am furious and out raged. Yet I am doing all I know to do…..only I feel it isn’t enough. I should at this point at least say what has me feeling this way….I have had to give up so many of the out-door activities that I have loved so much, but have told myself that I can now spend that time working online to help my environmental issues. Only right now with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico causing such a horrid mess that is killing everything it touches, I feel that what I do is far from enough. Seeing the dead animals, the nasty waters, ruined beaches, land and plants…..and not to forget the toll on humans and even our struggling economy…..leaves me in tears and trips to the powder room because my IBS is going wild. I’m not sleeping…..eating is hit and miss and with my diabetes that has been a real problem….my pain level is almost maxed out….back to even my skin hurting.  My head stays in such a fog….I must write myself notes so that I won’t forget things….sometimes though I can’t make sense out of my notes…lol…but I did get a digital voice recorder so now when I get an idea for a post {I end up talking out loud what I would post and by the time I got to posting I couldn’t remember what I wanted to say…..and it sounded good the first time…now if I can only remember how to work the recorder} I can record it the first go around and post it later…..lol….only now I’m using it all the time to keep from forgetting everything. I don’t let on to my kids just how upsetting this oil spill has been for me… not too hard as they no longer live at home….I have always felt a very strong connection to the ocean along with the mountains and trees. I was born and spent the first part of my life nestled between two fantastic mountain ranges ….over one was the beautiful Pacific Ocean and into the other was Yosemite National Forest with pristine Merced River and gorgeous Redwoods…..how could you have that as your playground and it not impact your out look on the environment? Later in the Southeast, I was close to the Gulf of Mexico and spent many a days there in all the seasons…..the best time for me was in the off seasons….no crowds…. just me and nature. I would drive down and park as close to the open beach as I could and would sit for hours just to watch a thunder-storm come in….the beauty and power of that kind of storm….now I’m not saying hurricanes….I’m not dumb…lol…well not that dumb anyway. Then moved further north….but still southeast….Georgia  and have had many enjoyable times in the Great Smokey Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. So, yes this really is hurting me….I try and limit the news shows but my e-mails and online news leaves me in tears. Some of my friends have sort of jokingly said if they don’t hear from me for a few days they will know that either the FBI or Secret Service has come and picked me and my laptop up….lol…. I’ve used the Internet to look up addresses and phone/fax numbers of elected or public officials and posted them on-line to make it easier for people to contact them to complain about the oil spill…..some I have found home info….BUT I haven’t posted them….lol….not yet anyway…..that’s what has my friends worried. But hey it is already out there….I just put them all in one nice neat spot…..I know balance, balance, balance……keep things in balance and don’t get so stressed out…..sooo much easier said than done, especially when it comes to living critters and humans……my gosh have a photo of even a dragonfly with oil on its wings and body….trying to lick itself clean…..Lord will it ever stop……I guess the word should be balance…….here it is 5:23am and it will most likely be 6:00am before I’m ready to put this post out there and what have I eaten…..humm….some fruit and bread with cream cheese……not a good thing. So I should stop now so I can wrap this post up…..my eyes hurt from crying and I hope to not have to head back to the powder room with this blasted IBS….lol….I ask that everyone do what ever you can to help all those suffering due to this oil spill…..{great now it just started raining! Needed that now don’t I…lol…but we do need rain….. be a thankful child}…..please pray to who or how ever you believe that there will be a stop to all the damage and loss of life……be at peace until our paths cross again……. Lila

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST AND YOU ARE NOT ON THE WEB SITE “LILA LOST IN THE FIBRO FOG…” THEN WHAT YOU ARE READING HAS BEEN STOLEN AND IS BEING USED WITHOUT MY AUTHORITY AND I HOPE YOU WILL COME TO MY WEB SITE BLOG AT WORDPRESS  http://www.lilabyrdakabirdladybyday.wordpress.com