Still no ball of fire here, but the nausea and dizziness have lessened a lot and I’m regaining the weight I lost. As I said before, I’m grateful I have the luxury of being able to take care of myself.
I was concerned about Abbie, one of my favorite bloggers, because she hadn’t written in days. She has four small children, three with special needs, and has her hands full in the best of times. Sure enough, in her first post Wednesday she started with a sketch of a bird (owl?) saying “I am so tired.” Three of the children are sick and her doctor thinks she has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome…a lifelong sentence. Hasn’t he heard of this bug going around?
Anyway, tired or no, she wrote another post that afternoon, about how the littlest one had a fever of 104° and an oxygen saturation level of 78% so was admitted to the hospital. I can’t imagine having to cope with all of that and bless her for sharing her life with us.
Here’s Abbie: http://en.gravatar.com/nelsonturf
She lives in our home town. I guess being young & beautiful isn’t everything.
Abbie is full of funny ways of expressing herself like yesterday…
*fingers in ears*
“LA LA LA LA LA ICAN’THEARYOU LA LA LA LA LA”
bikehikebabe,
Her next post was cute too.
Get well soon, Jean.
In my book Abbey is a hero. I do not comment in her blog for obvious reasons, but I admire her for her character.
CFS is not always life time sentence but it can start with an “innocent little bug” going around…
I know a lot about it!
Maria,
Thank you!
Rumusser,
I agree.
Thank you, bikehikebabe, for telling us about her.
Cathy,
So it sometimes goes away by itself? I cheerfully admit I don’t know much about the disease, and apparently it’s a mystery to most doctors, too. What has your experience been?
At least doctors are recognizing the problem now instead of just blaming the patient.
I don’t think it really ever goes away…but it such a multitude of ailments.
I got it back in the early 90s through the Glandular Fever, pneumonia and major liver dysfunction. It lingered the post viral fatigue and then bingo my Doctor diagnosed it.
Actually, he might have got it a bit wrong but once you get in the “too hard to change it because I got it wrong” you are stuck with it…
There is not cure, it has lots of “tails” which almost seem to be just part of it. No two people seem to have the same “tails” at the same time. Many end up with other diagnosis including FM and MCS. People try all sorts of things – mainstream and other. Mostly I used self-management.
What changed my diagnosis was discovering out of the “blue” that I was also a severe asthmatic. I have meds for that…which dealt with quite a few of the “so called tails” – “the blue” had much to do with how I self-managed things…it’s long a story about all that.
Today I have somehow overdone it even though what I was doing was within my capabilities so this afternoon I had a little snooze. I “work within boundaries” much of the time. I’m actually a whole lot better than many people because many people cannot do much at all.
“mowing my own lawn” in the days before 2004 would have been impossible. Sometimes even putting clothes on outside line was too much and I would have to sit down on the grass and have a little rest…actually I had to take a lot of rests, in not very convenient places 🙂 🙂
I knew where all the best “seats” were on the way to Mall, which is less than 3mins walk from here! Even driving the car (when I had car) was sometimes impossible. I would have to stop in a side street and have a little nap!
I had to “give up” a whole lot of things…things I enjoyed but as time has gone on I have got used to not having those things and I have found other good things to do! Sometimes I’m hamstrung i.e. by evening I’m only fit for my own company 🙂 🙂
But I coped…up to a point. I had/have a wonderful network of friends who completely understand. Let’s hope that your current ailment isn’t this – take care – Cathy
Cathy,
“I don’t think it really ever goes away….” That was my impression, that all one can do is cope with it the best one can and do the best we can with what we have left. I’m so glad you have supportive friends and that things are a bit easier now.
Thanks for the good wishes. I’m already starting to feel better, but who knows what else the future has in store. I’m not taking anything for granted. That’s not pessimism, just realism and appreciating what I still have.