I know I have been AWOL for a bit. I’ve had some issues with fibromyalgia that have made it a challenge for me to even manage my IADLs. Sleep is still problematic. I’ve slept anywhere from 8 – 10 hours a day, and it’s still at least two hours after I wake before it feels like my head is clear enough to do anything. And of course, pain is a constant companion when I am up and about. I have to admit, I miss Cymbalta’s effect on my pain.
So, yes, I am still here.
I offer a version of the Prayer of Saint Francis, for those of us who see the Divine as feminine, that I worked up a while back. I did this for my own needs, but I think we need a national discussion, and this is my contribution. What happened in Arizona should not happen in this nation. Continue reading
It’s nothing new that I haven’t been going to sleep at what would be considered a normal time for me. For months now, I’ve slept between four and six hours a night on average, beginning between 1am and 3am. Before, when Barbara was at home, I tended to be ready for bed and asleep no later than about 11pm, and would sleep for eight to nine hours a night. Continue reading
Santa Left a Forwarding Address: The North Pole – Sarah Klein for the NY Times
“Have you seen the letters?” I overheard a girl in a hair-sprayed beehive ask her friend, who was wearing a skinny tie.“Have you seen the letters?” I heard when I waited to get myself a spiced eggnog and some shrimp cocktail.
I was intrigued, and when Jim, our tall, rosy-cheeked, cardigan-clad host, came barreling up to me, I had to ask: “Jim, what are these letters everyone is talking about?”
OK, anyone who knows me, knows that I am the quintessential Grinch. I have no use for Christmas. I differ from the well-known Grinch only in that I don’t begrudge others their celebration. I do ask that they don’t push it in my face. Continue reading
Apparently, like many others, I was premature when I wondered Have we found the cause of ME/CFS and FMS? Scientists have discovered that the XMRV positive results were almost certainly a case of lab contamination. Ah, well, on to the next theory, I suppose. Until then, I live the best life I can.
Contamination Invalidates Study That Linked Virus to Chronic Fatigue.
… Towers’ team said the XMRV in the studies that linked it to CFS was from contamination by a laboratory cell line. The sequences from the contaminated cell line and chronic fatigue patient samples were very similar, which is contrary to what scientists would expect from a virus if it were spreading in humans. …
My experience so far? Overall positive. No serious glitches / data loss / other show stoppers. Continue reading
Fibromyalgia is still flaring, but the warmer weather seems to have helped. I don’t do well with cold. That’s one of the main reasons I avoided moving to where Barbara would have preferred to live.
Finances are still tight, but I am holding my own. I’m still working my way through bulk foods bought when K and T were still here. Frozen, canned, dried. Might as well use it while I can.
I’m crying less, and when I do, I can name the specific trigger for the tears. So I guess that’s progress. My therapist has made some recommendations on where I should focus my energy that, while I see the purpose, I am not entirely comfortable with. Still thinking that over.
I did the homework he gave me. It wasn’t any easier than I thought it would be when he first gave it to me two weeks ago. Nonetheless, he seemed satisfied with it. I guess that’s good too.
I’m just taking things day by day now. I still can’t see my future, or really my motivation. It takes time, and I refuse to be rushed by people who don’t know what this is like.
